Police: Man Claiming to be "Black Ops" Charged with Assaulting Police Officers

The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. 

A man approached a Northeastern University Police Officer near Forsyth Street and Greenleaf Street at about 9 a.m. on August 6 and asked the officer if he knew “exactly how many bathrooms” were on Northeastern’s campus. The officer told the man that he did not know. The man then told the officer that he worked for the government and needed to know. The man was carrying a black satchel bag and fake dog tags with a Massachusetts license and a handcuff key for police cuffs.

The man told police that he was a military black ops and talked about how the
“government needed to count how many bathrooms were on campus,” and that he needed access to the bathrooms.

The officer asked the man what he was doing on campus and the man repeated his story about being a part of Government Black Ops. When the officer asked for his agency identification, the man displayed his license. He told the officer that he was on direct orders to count the number of bathrooms and he needed access to every building on campus.

The officer asked to see his license, telling the man that he was concerned and needed to see his identification. According to the report, the man refused and walked away. The officer felt it wasn’t safe to let the man walk off, so he told the man to stop and grabbed his elbow. The man reportedly struck the officer’s hand and pushed the officer over. The man broke the officer’s hold, and pushed another officer away. A struggle ensued and officers were finally able to detain the man after threatening him with pepper spray.

Juston Root of 70 Forsyth Street was charged with two counts of assault and battery on police officers, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. 

Police later made contact with a family member, who told the officer that the suspect had a history of mental illness and was supposed to be at a hospital. According to the report, the suspect had been missing for several hours.