3 Somerville Residents Charged In Protest At Gov. Baker's Home

Somerville MA

28 September, 2021

10:36 PM

Description

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Three Somerville residents were among eight people arrested at a climate protest outside Gov. Charlie Baker's Swampscott home Tuesday morning. Members of a group calling itself "Extinction Rebellion Boston" tied themselves to a pink boat with the words "CLIMATE EMERGENCY" printed on its side, according to photos shared by the group on social media. The group posted that members were "locked in" about 7 a.m. "We demand climate justice and a declaration of climate and ecological emergency," Extinction Rebellion Boston tweeted. "The time to act is now." Happening now! The pink boat has landed at Governor Baker's house, just above sea level (for now). Rebels have locked on. We demand climate justice and a declaration of climate and ecological emergency. The time to act is now. #ActNow #ClimateEmergency #ClimateJustice pic.twitter.com/s0mQJd3o8K— Extinction Rebellion Boston (@XRBoston) September 28, 2021 State police said they issued orders for the protesters to "unchain themselves and disperse," but they refused. Troopers then cut them from the boat and arrested eight people — seven protesters chained to the boat and one more who was on top of the vessel. They were: Gregory Mangan, 69, of Somerville, Gerard Frank, 67, of Dudley, James Comiskey, 31, of Somerville, Jennifer Smith, 47, of Watertown, Dylan Sessler, 27, of Hampstead, New Hampshire, Allen McGonagill, 32, of Somerville, Nora Maynard, 38, of Turners Falls and Alexander Chambers, 23, of Boylston. The protesters were arraigned on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct in Lynn District Court Tuesday afternoon. They were released on their own recognizance and ordered to stay 100 yards away from the Baker's home, have no direct contact with the governor and not block Monument Avenue in Swampscott, the Essex County District Attorney's office said. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Nov. 4. According to its website, Extinction Rebellion is a "politically non-partisan international movement that uses non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act justly on the climate and ecological emergency." Lilly Worthley identified herself on a Swampscott community Facebook page as a town resident and part of Tuesday's protest. "For those saying we should 'bring it to the State House' we have many times," she posted. "We've spoken at town halls and public hearings and taken every official pathway we can to stop these dangerous projects and still do. "Governor Baker ignores us at every turn and these issues are too important for the future of our state and planet to drop. He needs to listen and unfortunately has refused to, which is why we forced him to listen this morning." Among the group's "demands" are for governments to declare a climate emergency, to act immediately to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gases to net-zero by 2025, to move "beyond politics" and transfer power on climate decisions to a "Citizens' Assembly" as well as establish "indigenous sovereignty and remediation led by and for communities suffering environmental injustice." Scott Souza (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.