PRESS CONFERECE Friday, Decmeber 16, 2011, 8:15 a.m. Boston Municipal Court, 24 New Chardon St., Boston

In the early hours of October 11, 2011, the Boston Police, acting on Mayor Menino’s orders to clear an Occupy Boston encampment from the Rose Kennedy Greenway, arrested and removed 142 peacefully assembled participants and supporters of the movement, plus one journalist and one National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Legal Observer. Those arrested were charged with the crimes of trespassing and unlawful assembly.

At their arraignments, many arrestees chose to accept the District Attorney’s offer to convert their criminal charges to a civil infraction and to pay a fine. Twenty individuals rejected this offer and pled not guilty to the charges. Nineteen of them will be in court on Dec. 16th for a pretrial conference. Lawyers from the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyers Guild are representing the group in their fight against these criminal charges.

Those in court on Friday reject the contention that they committed any crimes, and maintain that the police raid and mass arrest on the morning of October 11th was a violation of their constitutional rights of free speech and peaceable assembly. The criminal charge of trespassing is untenable in light of the fact that the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy had allowed Occupy Boston to be present on the Greenway. Further, the 2008 legistlative act which authorizes the Conservancy—a private, non-profit organization formed under the aegis of and responsible to the public, taxpayer-funded, Massachusetts Department of Transportation—to oversee and manage the space where the arrests occurred, mandates that “the greenway shall be treated as a public park and a traditional open public forum without limiting free speech” (Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts 2008, Ch. 308, Sec. 3a). As such, the allegation that individuals gathering in support of a cause were, in fact, doing anything other than exactly what this city space was designed for, is unsupportable. The October 11th protest was a peaceable assembly of activists exercising their constitutional right of free speech. The fact that these rights were violated is intolerable. That these rights were violated in Boston, a city that prides itself on a longstanding rejection of tyranny in favor of liberty, is profoundly disconcerting. Arrests of those who legally assemble to exercise their First Amendment rights must not happen again.

City Life / Vida Urbana and the Bank Tenants Association, with support from Occupy Boston, will hold a press conference and tenant speak out at 12 noon on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 40 Fowler Street in Dorchester, MA 02121. The press conference will introduce the St. Simon family who will move into 40 Fowler, as well as testimonials from families who have successfully gotten their homes back about foreclosure.

Home foreclosures have dominated the American landscape since the start of the recession. Through no fault of their own, families have been losing their homes and livelihoods. This is far too commonplace in America and has a disproportionate effect on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.   City Life’s ongoing work demonstrates the willingness of families to remain in their homes despite the pressure of the banks and those in power.
In addition to the press conference, Occupy Boston will join with City Life / Vida Urbana for an “Occupy our Homes” rally and march on Monday, December 19, 2011 at 12 noon at 10 Causeway St. in Boston, the Boston Regional Office of HUD. This rally is being called to bring visibility to the HUD eviction requirements.

City Life / Vida Urbana, community activists, and local families oppose the HUD requirements that allow commercial banks to evict foreclosure victims who have FHA-insured mortgagers before the property is transferred to HUD.  This policy forces the foreclosing lender to evict in order to get their insurance, even when they could otherwise afford to stay in the property.

Occupy Boston is encouraging community members, families, students, activists, and victims of the foreclosure crisis to join City Life / Vida Urbana, the Bank Tenants Association, and Occupy Boston at these two important events. For more information visit http://clvu.org/ or https://www.occupyboston.org/