Students in both yesterday’s and February’s arrests were members of Harvard’s Progressive Student Labor Movement.
Unlike in that action, which was coordinated in advance with the Harvard and Cambridge police, organizers said they worried yesterday that Boston police would shut down their protest too quickly.
“We wanted to be able to prolong the action,” Fragola said. “If this had happened for 30 seconds, how many people would it have gotten to?”
Fragola added that she was “very pleased” with the proceedings, while Falicov said the effort was well worth the criminal charges against her.
Wang said many other students and residents—about 50 in total—have said they will also risk arrest if negotiations show little progress.
Boston janitors have threatened to strike if the negotiations are not completed soon. Their contract expired Aug. 31.
—Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.