Boston declares tents and insulation contraband

Truth Out - In the last few days, Boston police have blocked the occupiers from bringing in a winterized tent intended as a safe space for women, and have searched a truck for “contraband” tents and insulation materials. In an exchange that resembles a vaudeville comedy routine, a Boston police officer explains to activist Clark Stoekley why he searched the truck for “items we don’t want in the camp”:

I came to the truck because uh, we were afraid you had contraband that we don’t want in the camp . . . items we don’t want in the camp . . . Winter tents and, um, any type of insulation materials for tents that are already presently there.

The officer later explains that he doesn’t know why protection from the cold is banned in Boston, saying, “I just do what I’m told.” 

“They are trying to cause people to freeze,” K. Eric Martin, a member of the camp’s logistics team, told the Boston Metro’s Steve Annear. “That’s what they want. They are trying to flush us out.”