SWAMPSCOTT — Nora Maynard, 38, of Turners Falls was among eight environmental activists arrested Tuesday morning after chaining themselves to a large boat they parked on a trailer outside Gov. Charlie Baker’s residence.
State Police also arrested Gregory Mangan, 69, of Somerville; Gerard Frank, 67, of Dudley; James Comiskey, 31, of Somerville; Jennifer Smith, 47, of Watertown; Dylan Sessler, 27, of Hampstead, N.H.; Allen McGonagill, 32,of Somerville; and Alexander Chambers, 23, of Boylston.
Police responded to the governor’s residence at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday and asked the protesters to unchain themselves and disperse, according to a statement from Massachusetts State Police.
“When they refused and continued obstructing traffic, troopers specially trained in civil disturbance response cut the devices holding the protesters to the boat and took them into custody,” the statement reads.
The demonstrators were from a group called Extinction Rebellion Boston, according to the Associated Press. A post on the group’s Facebook page Tuesday morning states the goal was to put Baker under house arrest “for his repeated crimes against environmental justice communities and climate inaction.”
The protesters were arraigned in Lynn District Court on Tuesday afternoon on charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing. They were released without bail on personal recognizance and ordered to stay more than 100 yards away from the governor’s residence; not to have direct contact with the governor; and not to block the driveway or road on Monument Avenue in Swampscott, according to Carrie Kimball, communication director at the Essex District Attorney’s Office.
They are next expected to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on Nov. 4.