The three people who were arrested at the Boston Pride parade, including one suspect accused of throwing a full water bottle at a cop, have been identified.
Boston Police officers arrested Jake Zawalich, and charged him with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon due to the alleged bottle toss. He was also charged with disorderly conduct.
Police also arrested Owen Woodcock and Jorma McSwiggan-Hong, charging each of them with disorderly conduct.
The incident happened at the intersection of Berkeley and St. James streets, where cops had been assigned for the parade. There were numerous other officers assigned to this area because of the contingent of pro-Palestinian protesters that were on the sidewalk.
Then at around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, dozens of protesters reportedly walked past officers lining Berkeley Street and blocked the free flow of the parade.
“At this time, most if not all, of the protesters interlocked their arms together in an attempt to avoid officers removing them from the parade route,” the police report states. “This tactic is done to prevent officers from easily removing protesters without any physical contact, thus forcing officers to physically remove individuals who are interlocked together.”
Cops instructed the protesters to walk away from the street. Once these requests were ignored, officers began to remove protesters.
Cops told Woodcock that he was under arrest, and instructed him to free his arms. He reportedly ignored officers’ demands, so they physically removed him from the group.
Then as Woodcock was being placed in flex-cuffs, a cop reportedly felt water hit his face. The officer reportedly saw Zawalich throw a full water bottle that struck him in the face. The bottle also hit a detective in the chest.
“As the VD05 made eye contact with Zawalich after this assault, Zawalich nodded his head, acknowledging his actions with a smile,” the police report states.
A third protester, later identified as McSwiggan-Hong, was also placed under arrest for blocking the parade route.