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BLM Protesters Chain Themselves To City Hall Door To Demand Affordable Housing

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

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Amber Randall Civil Rights Reporter
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Black Lives Matter members chained themselves to a city hall door to protest a lack of affordable housing.

Two women used bike locks to chain themselves to the Cambridge, Mass., City Hall doors around 6 a.m. Wednesday, reports the Boston Globe. The women attached themselves to two other men with plastic tubing covered in red duct tape.

The four protesters said they were members of Black Lives Matter/Cambridge.

Police came to untangle the protester around 9:30 a.m. They removed the door handles, then the protesters by using a plastic tarp-like material to slide them away.

The protesters demanded more affordable housing in the city. Among their list of demands was forcing developers with more than nine units to make 25 percent affordable housing.

The protesters also demanded MIT be allowed to build dorms for graduate and post-graduate students, and that city-owned properties be used to build affordable housing.

“Meanwhile, the people of color are disappearing. Meanwhile, Cambridge is getting less and less affordable for average people. Meanwhile, families are disappearing. We’re here because we’re saying we want to keep Cambridge Cambridge,” a woman who claimed to be a part of the protest movement said.

Police would not let supporters provide water to the protesters; police themselves brought water to the protesters to keep them hydrated.

About three dozen people stood outside chanting, “the people united will never be defeated” and, “brick by brick, wall by wall, racist systems have to fall.’’

Vice Mayor Marc McGovern spoke to those gathered, saying that while he understood that affordable housing was a pressing issue, he would not sign the group’s demands.

“It’s a delicate balance,” McGovern said. “But I just want you to know that this is important to us, and we’ve been on this for a while.”

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