Boston Prosecutors Invoke Law Used Against Anarchists to Charge Protesters

Protesters who clashed with the police in Boston this week are facing felony charges of assault and inciting a riot, a strong statement by city and state officials at a high-stakes moment of federal intervention in other Democrat-led cities.

The charges against 13 protesters came after their pro-Palestinian demonstration turned violent on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the deadly 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. Four Boston police officers were injured in a confrontation near Boston Common with more than 200 protesters who the police said had refused to clear the roadway. Those arrested ranged in age from 19 to 28 and included students from at least two area colleges.

All were to be charged with inciting a riot, a felony charge that is also known as “promotion of anarchy,” with origins in early 20th-century fears of anarchist violence. If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison.

Public officials commenting on the charges made no mention of the Trump administration, or its recent deployments of National Guard troops to liberal-leaning states, including California and Oregon, where the president has made claims of disorder. But Boston prosecutors seized the opportunity to stress their readiness to crack down on chaos in the city’s streets.

“If you assault police and commit other offenses, you’re going to be arrested and prosecuted, period,” Kevin Hayden, the district attorney for Suffolk County, which includes Boston, said in a statement.

Mayor Michelle Wu expressed gratitude to the police. “Attacks on police officers are unacceptable under all circumstances,” she said in a statement. “The individuals who engaged in violence disrespected our city and will face consequences.”

Gov. Maura Healey called the protesters’ actions “unacceptable.”

“There is no tolerance for blocking roadways or assaulting police,” she said in her own statement. “Anyone who does should be held fully accountable.”

In April 2024, the Boston police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators while clearing an encampment at Emerson College, part of a wave of police actions in response to protests on campuses across the United States. Facing misdemeanor charges of trespassing and disturbing the peace, some of those arrested performed community service, and their charges were dropped.

Law enforcement officials said their investigation this week had found violent imagery and rhetoric in materials used to promote Tuesday’s protest, which was a factor in the more serious felony charges. Bail for several of the protesters was set at $10,000.

“This organizing material promoted violence against police and presented an immediate threat to public safety which, combined with the actions of the individuals arrested, provided clear justification for the enhanced charges,” James Borghesani, a spokesman for the district attorney, said in an email.

Kylah Clay, a lawyer representing some of the protesters charged this week, pushed back against the government’s claims. In an email, she said the police had “brutalized antiwar marchers on Tuesday night, knocked cameras from the hands of young people recording their brutality, and left young protesters with injuries requiring medical care.”

“The additional charges are part of a pattern of government overreach and the criminalization of dissent targeting Palestine advocacy across the country,” Ms. Clay, of the National Lawyers Guild, wrote on Friday.

Prosecutors in California filed felony charges in April against protesters there who were accused of breaking into administrative offices and causing damage. The prosecutor in the case said that Mr. Trump’s intense scrutiny of campus antisemitism had not played a role.

“What the federal administration is doing is what they’re doing,” said Jeff Rosen, the Santa Clara County district attorney. “What I’m doing is applying the California Penal Code.”

In Illinois, eight protesters were charged last year with mob action, a felony punishable by up to three years in prison. At least seven protesters at the University of Pittsburgh faced felony rioting charges.

Jessie Rossman, legal director at the A.C.L.U. of Massachusetts, said that the promotion of anarchy law could be applied only narrowly, in cases of “true threat or incitement,” as specified by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in a 2021 opinion.

“The First Amendment only allows the government to criminalize speech in very limited circumstances,” Ms. Rossman said in a statement. “Any attempt to apply this law beyond this exceedingly limited scope is unconstitutional and is cause for great concern.”