A small group of peaceful protesters made their way inside the closed-to-the-public State House Wednesday morning demanding that the building once again welcome visitors nearly two years after elected officials shuttered its doors.
The group of nine was equipped with bullhorns and whistles, chanting against COVID-19 related mandates put in place by Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and other elected politicians.
A heavy police presence responded to the small band of people while State Police cruisers crowded Bowdoin Street. Police locked the gates to Ashburton Park and prevented employees from entering the building while the situation was unfolding.
Inside the building, Department of Conservation and Recreation rangers and State Police troopers crowded the entrance as protestors yelled, “Hey Baker, leave our kids alone,” “Ban the vaccine, save the kids,” and “Our kids are not lab rats.”
One protester, who refused to give her name, said the nine people were not part of a group and were “just citizens that are against these mandates.” When asked by police, two protestors refused to give their names and renewed their calls for access to the building.
After an hour shouting into microphones, blowing whistles, and decrying vaccination policies, a trooper informed the group they were unlawfully assembled in the building and would be arrested if they did not leave. At that point, several people left while others continued to argue with police over the specific law they were breaking.
Some time later, the same police officer gave the group a five minute warning before arrests would be made. More protestors left except for a group of four, who were eventually ushered out by multiple troopers outside the building onto Derne Street, near Florina Pizzeria.
A spokesperson for the State Police confirmed one person managed to get past DCR rangers at the Ashburton entrance and make her way further inside the building. She was “removed from the building,” the spokesperson said.
The State House has been closed to the public for 701 days, but elected officials and some staffers have started to return to the building more regularly. Democratic legislative leaders, including Senate President Karen Spilka, have signaled in recent weeks that the building could reopen in some capacity as soon as this month, but the Ashland Democrat said Wednesday that any reopening plan must include safety precautions.
“I remain optimistic that we can invite the public back to the State House sometime this month. In order to open safely, and to protect the health of all of our visitors, staff and members, I believe we must establish a vaccine requirement and ask those entering the State House to wear masks during their visit,” Spilka said in a statement Wednesday. “Those protocols and the reopening timeline remain under discussion.”
The sound of the protest carried throughout much of the building and captured the attention of some people working in the State House. At least one House aide was interested in the situation and walked down to get a closer look, though police crowded much of the area in the basement.
But for the most part, life carried on as normal in the State House. A House session scheduled for 11 a.m. started on time, with a spokesperson for House Speaker Ronald Mariano telling the News Service there were no delays associated with the protest in the basement. A joint caucus between Senate Democrats and Republicans carried on in the Senate Reading Room.
A Senate aide in the East Wing said he could not hear the protest in his office, and reporters at Gov. Charlie Baker’s press conference in the State House library on the third floor said they could barely make out sounds of the protest, but not specific words.
The protest was ongoing as Baker announced that the statewide mask mandate for schools would end on Feb. 28. Asked about the State House, Baker said he believed it should be open to the public, but deferred to legislative leaders like Spilka and Mariano.
“It’s their building, it’s their call,” Baker said.
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