Hoping for the Best, Planning for the Worst

The permits have been signed, the free-speech zone has been cleared, and the fences are starting to rise. Boston is bracing itself for thousands of protesters that will descend upon the city for the Democratic National Convention. The city has promised to welcome demonstrators with open arms, anxious to avoid the clashes that have marred previous large-scale political events such as the Republican National Convention four years ago in Philadelphia and the Free Trade Area of the Americas Summit last November in Miami.

But even as police have been upfront on their plans by working with groups such as the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), concerns persist about inadequate space to accommodate protesters at the convention hall, as well as other signs that police are planning for mass arrests and are preemptively harassing protesters coming to Boston.

In response to civil libertarians' concerns, police moved the "free-speech zone" to a location closer to the FleetCenter where the convention will be held, and have helped expedite permit requests. Even so, the current protest pen is still claustrophobic and cramped. It has only one small entrance and small two exits, one of them with only a five-foot clearance below elevated subway tracks. The area itself is only large enough to hold some 4,000 protesters, even though more than twice that many are expected to arrive. Protesters won’t have direct access to the FleetCenter either, but will have to address their concerns to delegates as they arrive at the bus terminal next to the zone. Two fences separated by 10 feet will prevent activists from handing out pamphlets or information.

Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Foley, while admitting that the space isn’t perfect, claims that the area is the closest that protesters have ever been allowed to a major event such as this. “Taking into account post-9/11 security concerns, and Boston’s narrow street configurations, we’ve gone out of our way to accommodate protesters,” he says.

That hasn't been enough to mollify civil libertarians. “I consider this area very dangerous,” says Urszula Masny-Latos, director of the Massachusetts NLG, “The movement of crowds will be very difficult.” The group declined to file a lawsuit, acknowledging that there are few other options in crowded downtown area where the convention is being held. “It looks like whoever decided on [the FleetCenter] didn’t think of those who would be demonstrating, or they intentionally picked a place that would prevent people from demonstrating,” says Masny-Latos.

In response to the less-than-adequate protest pen, many protesters plan to avoid the convention center altogether, planning protests for other strategic spots in city neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the Bl(a)ck Tea Society, a self-described “anti-authoritarian” group has called for a boycott of the free speech zone, in favor of a wider street in the “soft security zone” next door, which doesn’t have direct access to the delegates, but can accommodate more people. While police have said that activist are free to protest anywhere in the city so long as they are not disrupting traffic flow, they also plan on putting up a fence around the “soft zone.” That sets up the potential for an ugly clash on Thursday the 29th, when a major anti-war march is headed to the center to coincide with John Kerry’s acceptance of the nomination.

“We’ve done the best we can with the area,” says Foley. “All people may not agree with that, but if something goes wrong, we’re going to be wearing it.”

Unlike police departments in some cities, the Boston Police Department has shown a high tolerance for civil disobedience. During a march that drew 50,000 people at the start of the Iraq War, police made no arrests despite protesters flooding the streets and blocking traffic for hours. More recently, police were even-handed with angry protesters who clashed outside the State House during the debate against gay marriage, wearing regular uniforms instead of riot gear to keep tension to a minimum.