The information and images contained in this article may be delayed due to the federal, state, and local public records laws and guidelines which allow departments and government agencies to take up to multiple months to fulfill requests such as providing booking photos or documents. The included reports have been redacted by both BPD, the courts, and Live Boston Staff for reasons of privacy, investigatory purposes, and officer safety.
On Saturday, January 21, 2023, Boston Police Officers assigned to District A-1 arrested Jared ‘Riley’ Dowell, 23, of Portland, Maine, on numerous charges following an incident on the Boston Common during an anti-police protest. These charges included assault and battery on a police officer with serious bodily injury, vandalism to a historical marker or monument, resisting arrest, and other similar crimes.
Dowell was a nobody for most of the following day until news broke that they were actually the child of U.S. Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts’s 5th Congressional District. Clark represents multiple towns and smaller cities which are primarily found in Middlesex as well as Suffolk and Worcester Counties. Representative Clark quickly issued a statement once her child was identified in the media. The tweet can be found below:
For the first time, we are now able to exclusively bring you the full story with the associated records including the booking image, police report, and even the police radio traffic from that night. With these documents and records now available we can now see the full picture of how the Boston Police were able to swiftly and effectively execute the arrest.
In the original statement released by the Boston Police Department, they simplified the incident, saying that their officers had “responded to a call for a protest at the Parkman Bandstand Monument located within the Boston Common”. This was a massive understatement.
The truth is that Boston Police had advanced, prior knowledge of the expected civil unrest, and were ready to rock and roll as soon as the line of law and order was crossed by the agitators according to the report and numerous, high-ranking, law enforcement sources.
Boston Police took multiple steps in the days leading up to prepare for what the police report describes as a demonstration for “Solidarity with Atlanta Forest Defenders” following an out-of-state officer-involved shooting.
Sources within the Department tell us that they had established, prior to the start of the event, a unified command center, known as the Law Enforcement Command Center or LECC, placed plain-clothed units throughout the common and protest, and had staff in the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, actively monitoring the extensive camera system that blankets the city in real-time.
In the police report, which the LB617 team obtained from the court, it is explained that the LECC was able to watch the protest in real-time by, “utilizing the Boston Police Flir Cameras” and specifically were able to directly observe the suspect, “defacing the Parkman Bandstand with spray paint.” The graffiti, shown below, is made up of multiple common Antifa-type slogans such as “ACAB” which stands for “All Cops Are Bastards”.
In the radio audio, high-ranking personnel in the LECC, identified by the call signs of ‘Yankee Alpha Three’ and the ‘Victor Alpha Five’ can be heard directing officers to the area and providing a detailed suspect description.
They continued to track the suspect’s flight path until police were able to catch up with the group. It was then that the LECC instructed the personnel on scene that they wanted officers to “take him [Dowell] into custody” and seize the backpack he was carrying.
The one outstanding piece of the puzzle which is yet to be released is the body-worn camera and BRIC footage. According to sources within the department, this footage clearly shows the struggle which left one officer bloodied and bruised and Dowell charged with A&B on a Police Officer causing serious bodily injury. Additionally, the images that were taken by detectives of the recovered spray paint, suspect, and officer’s injuries have yet to be disclosed.
Dowell was. arraigned in the Central Division of Boston Municipal Court on the 23rd of January on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, vandalizing property, tagging property, vandalizing a historic marker/ monument, and resisting arrest. Judge James Coffey set bail at $500 and ordered Dowell to stay away from Boston Common. Dowell will return to court on April 19th for a pre-trial hearing.
In a second incident, at about 22:30 hours, officers made another arrest at the Parkman Bandstand Monument of Andrea Colletti, 27, of Brighton. After attempting to flee on foot, she was apprehended. Her booking image can be seen here:
After a brief struggle ensued, she was placed under arrest and charged with; Damage of Property by Graffiti/Tagging, Destruction or Injury of Personal Property and Resisting Arrest. Colletti is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court.