Pols and Politics: Bracing for the National Guard and indicted sheriff loses his free ride

Congressman Jim McGovern D- nd announced Saturday he has spoken to the Healey administration about the possibility of the National Guard being deployed to Massachusetts What I did was I talked to the administration he advised the Herald When demanded if he had spoken directly to Gov Maura Healey about it he hedged Yet he recounted attendees at a society forum that he had talks with the governor In a wide-ranging talk where McGovern hit on ICE C-Span and RFK Jr he mostly railed against the Trump administration He then stated next weekend s No Kings rallies won t enflame the context in the Bay State He mentioned he didn t know enough about this past week s protest on the Boston Common that resulted in a Boston police officer getting his nose broken and individuals charged including with promotion of anarchy to comment but he announced the No Kings gatherings would remain peaceful When people break the law they should be held accountable he added That won t happen he predicted this coming Saturday The Herald commented we would call him if he s wrong No free ride for sheriff Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins had to give up his department truck when he went on anatomical leave after a federal grand jury indicted him in the summer on extortion charges An office spokesman has approved to the Herald that the taxpayer-funded Chevy Tahoe issued to the sheriff has been sitting on department property since Tompkins went on leave in August The spokesman also added that Tompkins was never given a taxpayer-funded weapon Tompkins lawyers are asking for the sheriff s extortion charges to be dismissed denying any wrongdoing and arguing that even if the accusations were true they are insufficient to help the charges Federal prosecutors say that Tompkins used his official position to bully executives at a Boston cannabis company to recoup his pre-initial masses offering outlay of when the stocks tanked He has pleaded not guilty The sheriff earned last year according to state Comptroller records and has been paid so far this year Why no riot gear When the Boston Police Department came across violent pro-Palestine supporters at the Boston Common officers were not dressed in riot gear and there was not enough manpower to handle the combative situation according to the president of the Boston Police Patrolmen s Association Chaos erupted last Tuesday when urgency vehicles attempted to respond to another call in the area of Boston Common A crowd of roughly - rally attendees though blocked Tremont Street Four BPD officers suffered injuries while trying to break up the agitated unruly group with one needing surgery to reconstruct and repair a broken nose Photos from the chaotic scene show that officers were wearing bike patrol uniforms Riot gear is not perpetually the answer BPPA President Larry Calderone recounted the Herald on Friday I don t know if in that particular situation the officers should have been wearing riot gear at that point in time We do these large-scale events quite often the union head added They go off without a hitch and there s no violence I don t think we need riot gear every single time we re doing a protest The one thing that should stay consistent is that we should reliably have bodies on the street to handle any situation that may arise Mayor Michelle Wu echoed Calderone when the Herald required her about when police should wear riot gear The department does have access to a full range of tools and equipment to keep officers safe Wu declared and they use their best judgment as to when different types of teams are deployed But again there are hundreds of protests and demonstrations that happen every single year in Boston the mayor added and they happen without matter and very peacefully Pols Politics logo Boston Herald