Boston Police Officers Lured Into ‘Gauntlet’ Attack by Pro-Palestinian Rioters, Four Officers Injured, 13 Arrested
The date was no coincidence. October 7th marked two years since Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Israeli civilians, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered on Boston Common to commemorate the anniversary. What started as another supposed “peaceful protest” organized by Students for Justice in Palestine would soon reveal its true nature. The promotional materials should have been the first warning sign—posters featuring quotes from Hamas spokespeople alongside images of burning police cruisers. This wasn’t about peace. It never was.
As evening fell, the demonstration began moving from the Common toward Tremont and Winter streets. Officers on scene were trying to respond to an unrelated emergency call when protesters deliberately blocked the intersection, refusing to move even for emergency vehicles. What happened next wasn’t spontaneous violence or heated emotions boiling over. According to Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone, it was a calculated trap.
Officers found themselves surrounded as protesters blocked their cruisers from both ends of the street. The trap had been sprung.
From Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone:
The officers were lured into what we’re classifying as a gauntlet, where the officers entered the intersection and cars blocked it off, not allowing the officer to escape the path and the torment that they were about to unleash on the officer.
The “torment” Calderone described was brutal. Protesters kicked police cruiser doors, ripped equipment from officers’ bodies, and launched direct physical assaults. One officer was struck in the face with such force that his nose was broken, requiring reconstructive surgery. Three other officers suffered injuries as smoke devices and flares filled the air, creating chaos and confusion. These weren’t protesters—they were combatants executing a military-style ambush against those sworn to protect and serve.
Thirteen arrests were made that night, and prosecutors later upgraded charges to include felony “promotion of anarchy” after reviewing the Hamas-glorifying promotional materials. The suspects ranged from 19 to 28 years old—young radicals from comfortable Massachusetts suburbs like Cambridge, Medford, and Watertown (yes, really, from comfortable Somerville) who apparently view attacking police as some form of twisted solidarity with Gaza.
One suspect, 21-year-old Roder Atwood, was specifically charged with assault and battery on a police officer for allegedly breaking the officer’s nose. After their court appearances, supporters tried to block news cameras, apparently understanding that their actions might not look so heroic in the light of day.
Mayor Michelle Wu offered a pathetically tepid response, mumbling about the “right to peacefully protest” before adding obligatory condemnation. This is the same weak leadership that left officers outnumbered and understaffed for an event where the promotional materials literally advertised violence. Just days earlier, another police cruiser had been torched in what officials called a “staged attack.” The pattern is clear, but Democrat city leaders refuse to see it—or do they just not care?
As evening fell, the demonstration began moving from the Common toward Tremont and Winter streets. Officers on scene were trying to respond to an unrelated emergency call when protesters deliberately blocked the intersection, refusing to move even for emergency vehicles. What happened next wasn’t spontaneous violence or heated emotions boiling over. According to Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone, it was a calculated trap.
Officers found themselves surrounded as protesters blocked their cruisers from both ends of the street. The trap had been sprung.
From Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone:
The officers were lured into what we’re classifying as a gauntlet, where the officers entered the intersection and cars blocked it off, not allowing the officer to escape the path and the torment that they were about to unleash on the officer.
The “torment” Calderone described was brutal. Protesters kicked police cruiser doors, ripped equipment from officers’ bodies, and launched direct physical assaults. One officer was struck in the face with such force that his nose was broken, requiring reconstructive surgery. Three other officers suffered injuries as smoke devices and flares filled the air, creating chaos and confusion. These weren’t protesters—they were combatants executing a military-style ambush against those sworn to protect and serve.
Thirteen arrests were made that night, and prosecutors later upgraded charges to include felony “promotion of anarchy” after reviewing the Hamas-glorifying promotional materials. The suspects ranged from 19 to 28 years old—young radicals from comfortable Massachusetts suburbs like Cambridge, Medford, and Watertown (yes, really, from comfortable Somerville) who apparently view attacking police as some form of twisted solidarity with Gaza.
One suspect, 21-year-old Roder Atwood, was specifically charged with assault and battery on a police officer for allegedly breaking the officer’s nose. After their court appearances, supporters tried to block news cameras, apparently understanding that their actions might not look so heroic in the light of day.
Mayor Michelle Wu offered a pathetically tepid response, mumbling about the “right to peacefully protest” before adding obligatory condemnation. This is the same weak leadership that left officers outnumbered and understaffed for an event where the promotional materials literally advertised violence. Just days earlier, another police cruiser had been torched in what officials called a “staged attack.” The pattern is clear, but Democrat city leaders refuse to see it—or do they just not care?