Black Lives Matter Protests Outside Cambridge City Hall

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Black Lives Matter activists stationed themselves outside Cambridge City Hall Wednesday morning, with some protesters reportedly removed by police after locking themselves together and to the building, part of the group's rally against high housing costs in the city.

Images posted on the Black Lives Matter Boston and Black Lives Matter Cambridge Facebook page Wednesday morning showed four activists chained to one another and to the doors of City Hall under a large poster. Video posted to the Cambridge page shows several police officers standing by.

News reports and video from the group shows additional protesters holding signs and chanting on the City Hall lawn.

The action was part of a "Pre-work Speak-Out Rally" described on Facebook like this:

"Please join us in a peaceful and healing gathering space to speak out about our experiences with housing! We believe housing is a right and want to ensure that our people in Cambridge, especially our Black people, have access to affordable housing!"

According to The Boston Globe, protesters who had locked themselves to the door were removed by Cambridge police, who removed the City Hall door handles around 9:30 a.m. before sliding "a tarp-like material" under the demonstrators to pull them away from the entry. A Cambridge police spokesman told the paper no arrests have been made.

The poster, under which the protesters had locked themselves to the doors, read: "This building has been CONDEMNED until..." and listed demands regarding city policy on affordable housing, student dorms, and a city-sponsored "rent to own" program.

You can read more of the paper's coverage here.

>> City hall photo by Daderot via Wikimedia Commons