Lucas: Police right to flag low bail

The Boston police union may have a point about the lack of prosecution of anti-cop rioters in and around the city Larry Calderone president of the Boston Police Patrolmen s Association had in mind the two young men who were arrested during a riotous illegal car hookup in the South End last week They are Rhode Island residents William Cantwell of Warwick and Julian Bowers of Cumberland who are charged with assault and battery of a police officer resisting arrest disorderly conduct and the malicious destruction of property That property happened to be a Boston police cruiser equipped with computers and other tool that was smashed and torched The incident is different from the following pro-Palestinian riot that took place in sight of the State House Tuesday night when thirteen rioters were arrested for turning on the police and injuring four of them including one cop with a broken nose In the first incident which triggered Calderone s response both Rhode Island men were distributed on and bail by Roxbury District Court Judge David Poole an appointee of former Gov Deval Patrick Prosecutors had requested bail of for Cantwell and for Bower Calderone bemoaning the escalation of social warriors rioting and attacking police officers blamed the trend on the lack of prosecution of the rioters He was ironically joined in his criticism of the low bail set for the Rhode Island two by Gov Maura Healey who announced she was disgusted by the motor wagon hookups Bail should have been set higher as the prosecution requested she declared What is ironic about this is that Healey when she was attorney general supported Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph as did Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after Joseph was indicted in for allowing a needed illegal immigrant to flee out the back door of her courthouse to avoid ICE agents waiting out front to scoop him up Healey reported that indictment brought by then U S Attorney Andrew Lelling a GOP appointee was a radical and politically motivated attack on our state and the independence of our courts Hardly had Joe Biden replaced Trump as president then the charges against Joseph were dropped The judge however is awaiting probable censure from the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct Maybe in the name of judicial fairness Healey rather than complaining about low bail should have gotten Poole to let Cantwell and Bowers out the back door too Another fascinating aside is that while Healey condemned the takeover of streets in the South End by riotous illegal street racers she had nothing to say about the pro-Palestinian rioters who who fought with police on the Boston Common in view of the State House two nights later Perhaps it was because the South End riot and similar riotous motor motorcycle hookups took place in communities outside of Boston as well meaning that they were a statewide challenge while the Boston pro-Palestinian riot was Wu s complication and not hers Meanwhile Attorney General Andrea Campbell the state s chief law enforcement officer was as usual nowhere to be revealed In any event the pro-Palestinian riot was much worse While no police cars were torched certain three hundred nasty rioters clashed with police who greatly outnumbered looked as though they were undermanned and in need of reinforcement It is to his credit that after the token bail was granted the Rhode Island pair Boston Municipal Court Judge Paul Tresler a Gov Charlie Baker appointee increased the bail of the thirteen pro-Palestinian defendants up to Healey and Wu can continue to downplay the continuing and growing anti-police attacks that run through these riots but the practice will continue as long as they and fellow progressives keep demonizing federal law enforcement executives They are fueling the fire they pretend to be put out Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at peterlucas bostonherald com Gov Maura Healey announces a crackdown on street takeovers and drag racing during a press conference at the State House last week Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald In this photo provided by Bryan Hecht Boston police detain a pro-Palestinian protester last Tuesday in Boston Bryan Hecht The Berkeley Beacon via AP