Protestors shut down I-93 near Boston

[golden eagle]

Protesting over police deaths in Ferguson and New York

[spooky]

Morons.

[bob7374]

From the traffic maps, currently, at 10:15, even after the protesters were cleared from the Milton area, traffic is still backed up on I-93 North 15 miles back to Canton and on MA 3 North from MA 228 7 miles from I-93. Going to be a lot of people late for work.

[texaskdog]

Morons.

M*ssholes!

[Zeffy]

People have the right to protest, but they don't have to the right to block a limited access freeway on a workday.

[jeffandnicole]

What happened in Ferguson & New York?  I better read about that.  Oh, look.  Oh my goodness.  Oh, geez.  What a mess.  Thank goodness for this protest, otherwise I would have never known.

/sarcasm.

[texaskdog]

What happened in Ferguson & New York?  I better read about that.  Oh, look.  Oh my goodness.  Oh, geez.  What a mess.  Thank goodness for this protest, otherwise I would have never known.

/sarcasm.

Oh don't get me started on anything "raising awareness"

[Mergingtraffic]

I don't get how they weren't hit? especially the first protesters that first stepped out into the road? 

[formulanone]

That's because protesting inside or around places like police stations and courthouses; where it reasonably might make a difference, is too much work and planning. After all, it's easier to inconvenience those who had precisely jack-squat to do with it, so nothing gets done about policing issues, furthering the twisted logic that "nobody cares".

[Pete from Boston]

Shoulda left them there.

[spooky]

[SidS1045]

My usual 40-minute trip to work took almost three hours.  Boston traffic is, on a good day, pretty bad, so this morning all the alternative routes were over-clogged as well.

Apparently the protesters' protest was something about white people coming into the city, using the city and leaving the city, while black people get to stay in the city, get profiled and get shot.  I guess all those black people I see in my home suburb, not to mention those I see in the other suburbs, don't count.  In any case, they forfeited any sympathy they might have gained for their cause by making people late for work.  There's also an unconfirmed report that a person on the way to a hospital in an ambulance was delayed by the traffic jams and the delay may have exacerbated his/her condition.

Yet another rumor is that these people will try it again this coming Sunday evening, when the Patriots play at Foxborough for the AFC championship.  If you think Boston commuters are tough, you ain't seen nothin' until you've seen a Pats fan headed for Gillette Stadium.  They'll just run the protesters over.

[PHLBOS]

If you think Boston commuters are tough, you ain't seen nothin' until you've seen a Pats fan headed for Gillette Stadium.  They'll just run the protesters over.

Carnage on I-95; film at 11.

[Pete from Boston]

An ambulance with a critical patient was delayed.  A contractor sent a dozen people home without pay because his concrete pour was not delivered.

The "awareness" from something like this is trumped a dozenfold by negative publicity.

It's a great way to get people to stop talking about real issues, which will be buried under pages of "wild spectacle" coverage.

More missteps from the well-meaning but tactically misguided activist community.

[roadman]

There's also an unconfirmed report that a person on the way to a hospital in an ambulance was delayed by the traffic jams and the delay may have exacerbated his/her condition.

From Boston dot com:

Massachusetts State Police said this morning that the protest blocked an ambulance traveling to a Boston hospital from Easton, diverting it to a smaller hospital in southeastern Mass. The ambulance was carrying a car crash victim with life-threatening injuries.

[Alps]

People have the right to protest, but they don't have to the right to block a limited access freeway on a workday.

Technically, none of them have the right to enter a limited access roadway at any time. Pedestrians are prohibited. That does trump freedom of speech in this case.

[Zeffy]

The right way to protest: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/01/students_will_gather_in_cadwalader_park_for_blacko.html#incart_river

Technically, none of them have the right to enter a limited access roadway at any time. Pedestrians are prohibited. That does trump freedom of speech in this case.

That is true. If anyone hit them I wonder if the driver would be at fault? (I.E. Couldn't slow down in time)

An ambulance with a critical patient was delayed.

So here's a question - if the patient doesn't make it, and it was caused by the freeway being shut by protesters, then couldn't they be technically held accountable for negligent homicide? They denied a patient the care they might've needed to save them - of course, if that's not concrete, then charging them would be stupid, but if the death could have been prevented by getting to the hospital on time, would that suffice?

[NE2]

[golden eagle]

People have the right to protest, but they don't have to the right to block a limited access freeway on a workday.

Yes! Sometimes, the very people protestors want to help are they very ones they end up hurting. If they protested in a park, fine. You inconvenience very few people and no real safety issues are compromised.

[golden eagle]

I don't get how they weren't hit? especially the first protesters that first stepped out into the road?

Maybe they arrived in vehicles and stopped in the middle of the highway?

[Pete from Boston]

I don't get how they weren't hit? especially the first protesters that first stepped out into the road?

Maybe they arrived in vehicles and stopped in the middle of the highway?

Traffic moves at a crawl there in the morning.  They supposedly slowed and stopped their rental trucks to unload.

[Pete from Boston]

People have the right to protest, but they don't have to the right to block a limited access freeway on a workday.

Yes! Sometimes, the very people protestors want to help are they very ones they end up hurting. If they protested in a park, fine. You inconvenience very few people and no real safety issues are compromised.

Unfortunately, the general reaction seems to be one of greater association than before of their cause with lunatics.  This is where "any publicity is good publicity" breaks down.

[J Route Z]

They had that little girl protest on the highway? Oh god. 

[ZLoth]

More missteps from the well-meaning but tactically misguided activist community.

So, uh, what do these "activists" do to earn a paycheck and pay the rent?

Hmph.... thought so....

[oscar]

They supposedly slowed and stopped their rental trucks to unload.

If that's true, that suggests demonstrations that were both really well-organized, and left a paper trail that can be used to track down the organizers.  Especially if the patient stuck in the ambulance ultimately dies, the police might make the effort to follow that trail.