Barricades remain ready for use Wednesday at the building housing Elbit in Cambridge’s Central Square. (Photo: Sue Reinert)

Cambridge police were outnumbered and almost overwhelmed Oct. 30 as they tried to prevent demonstrators from vandalizing the Central Square office building that houses a unit of Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense contractor. One officer shot pepper spray on a protester’s face from two feet away to get him to let go of a demonstrator the officer wanted to arrest; others forced demonstrators to the ground to handcuff them. All the while, protesters were pelting officers with eggs, paint and smoke bombs.

These accounts come from use-of-force reports and other documents chronicling the protest at Prospect Street and Bishop Allen Drive, documents the city’s law office has tried to keep secret. The office denied a public records request from Cambridge Day for incident and use-of-force reports, asserting that they were exempt from disclosure because of an ongoing investigation.

Yet the same reports are available to the public as part of files in the criminal cases against nine people who were arrested at the demonstration. Police submitted them to a District Court clerk magistrate to back up their request for charges.

It’s not clear how disclosure of the reports would interfere with an investigation, as claimed by the law office without details. The Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the state public records law, has asked the city to provide unredacted copies of the reports so it can decide an appeal from Cambridge Day.

Aside from the secrecy issue, the documents describe a demonstration that started peacefully but turned aggressive suddenly, unnerving officers. Twenty-five tactical patrol force officers were facing about 200 protesters, the police incident report said. The language in that report and use-of-force reports from individual officers was heated. After police asked for backup, “all on-duty uniformed patrol personnel in the city responded to quell the riotous mob,” the incident report said.

Protesters asserted that police attacked them without provocation.

“It should be noted that the crowd was in possession of eggs, smoke bombs and paint, along with whatever else they had in their possession for nefarious intent,” one officer’s use-of-force report said. “The group had changed from a peaceful protest to unlawful assembly,” another report said, adding that protesters’ “tumultuous behavior” was inconveniencing the public using the sidewalk.

“Unable to de-escalate”

Some officers mentioned de-escalation, in keeping with their training, if only to say it was impossible “due to the numerous officers involved in maintaining order to an agitated crowd who were presenting clear officer safety issues.” Another officer referred to pushing demonstrators back to protect two officers trying to arrest a suspect. A crowd of 15 protesters surrounded them, and “I was unable to de-escalate the situation due to exigency to get to the officers in need of backup.” That officer also said he tried to de-escalate before pushing some demonstrators by yelling “‘Get back!’” but in other cases “protesters converged on me too quickly for me to attempt to de-escalate.”

Officers said they were left with dried egg and red paint on their clothing; one reported that a demonstrator punched his face, leaving a small mark (which was photographed) while another said a female protester chest-bumped him. The police reports said surveillance video had been placed in the department’s evidence unit.

Cambridge’s Calla Walsh at a courthouse Oct. 31 to face charges with eight others resulting from a protest the previous day. (Photo: Calla Walsh via social media)

The nine arrested protesters were charged with crimes ranging from assaulting a police officer to disorderly conduct. They have pleaded not guilty and their cases are proceeding slowly through Cambridge District Court, with the next appearance for most in early April. All were released without bail and ordered to stay away from the Elbit building.

Different outcomes

Does the incident indicate greater hostility between police and demonstrators? Other Cambridge protests on Israel and Palestine have been peaceful, with officers stopping traffic when protesters moved onto the street to march. Suhail, a spokesperson for the Party of Socialism and Liberation, who didn’t want his last name published for fear of retaliation, said that doesn’t mean police are to be trusted.

“Largely what we see is police brutalizing and terrorizing pro-Palestinian demonstrators,” he said. “We don’t think police are here to protect us. They are here to protect property.” Although Cambridge police usually stop traffic for protesters, while Boston police reportedly arrested almost 50 demonstrators blocking traffic near South Station on March 7, Cambridge police are no different from officers in other cities, Suhail said.

Cambridge police block traffic for a March 2 protest at MIT. (Photo: Cambridge Police Department via social media)

For example, he said, when PSL protesters occupied Cambridge City Hall on Jan. 29 while city councillors met on Zoom to discuss a policy order calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, police eventually told demonstrators they had to leave or they would be arrested. Police spokesperson Robert Goulston said the building “was scheduled to close at 8 p.m.” because the council was meeting virtually instead of in person. Police and city officials “worked with the protesters inside on an agreement to leave the building when the public building was scheduled to close” and then “reminded the 90 to 120 people inside” of the closing time when the deadline approached. Goulston was asked but did not say whether police threatened demonstrators with arrest if they didn’t leave, as Suhail said.

Suhail said demonstrators decided not to get arrested, and they left. PSL was not part of the Elbit demonstration, he said.

Safe protests

Asked whether police have a policy of stopping traffic when demonstrators move onto a street, Goulston said the department “supports the rights of individuals to engage in peaceful protest” and will control traffic “when public safety dictates.” He added a caveat: “Residents and visitors to our city must be able to safely access public streets, buildings and emergency services. “

Suhail was interviewed at a pro-Palestine demonstration in front of City Hall on Wednesday that illustrated police willingness – and readiness – to divert traffic. Six uniformed officers watched the event from the entrance to the building and seven were posted across Massachusetts Avenue in front of the Senior Center. Four motorcycles and their drivers were lined up on Bigelow Street.

Protesters at Google in Cambridge on Wednesday. (Photo: Sue Reinert)

When leaders told the small crowd of about 60 people to line up in the Massachusetts Avenue roadway for a march, police sprang into well-rehearsed action, stopping traffic and directing cars onto Bigelow Street. Officers also took positions beside and behind the marchers. The protesters walked the two blocks to Prospect Street and decided to travel to the Google office in Kendall Square by subway. (Google has a contract to provide artificial intelligence to the Israeli military.) Police didn’t follow them downstairs as they crowded into a filled train car, holding signs and chanting. 

Since the Oct. 30 protest at Elbit, “there have been no arrests or additional charges of assault involving our officers” at a demonstration, Goulston said, although officers “have had to break up fights involving opposing groups.” 

Police resist “sniper” talk

The events at Elbit made an impression, though. The police department posted officers from its SWAT team, along with rifles, on the roof of an undisclosed building with a view of the Elbit site on Dec. 14 because they expected another demonstration that could turn violent, police commissioner Christine Elow told city councillors. Elow said police wanted to protect demonstrators from counter-protesters or others intent on harming them. There was no demonstration that day.

Elow denied vehemently that any of the officers on the roof were snipers, and the council discussion ended up focusing more on what to call them than why they were there and why they needed rifles. Some Cambridge officers are certified as snipers and the department has four weapons in its inventory called “sniper” rifles.

Police spokesperson Goulston didn’t answer specific questions when asked whether any of the rifles on the roof that day were sniper rifles, how many officers are certified as snipers and how many times in the past year the SWAT team was assigned to a roof. For example, he responded to the question on sniper rifles by saying that the rifles on the roof that day were “part of our shared inventory,” apparently alluding to the list of department weapons that the department has “shared” with the public.

As for the number of certified snipers, Goulston said five officers “have undergone extensive training and can identify and respond to high-risk incidents with the primary goal of trying to keep everyone safe,” without using the word “sniper.” His answer to the other question was similarly elusive.

This post was updated March 18, 2024, to correct that it was pepper spray used by police during a melee.