Black runners club claims police blocked them at Boston Marathon

Members of Black running club say police blocked their cheer zone without any explanation

File photo: Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in action at the 127th Boston Marathon, Boston, Massachusetts, US, 17 April 2023 (REUTERS)

A group of police officers surrounded members of a Black running club after they gave high fives and cheered runners at the Boston Marathon on Sunday.

Mike Remy, a 39-year-old runner and Pioneers Run Crew member, told local news that their cheer zone was set up to support runners, but officers from a police squad soon formed a “human barricade” blocking them from the runners.

He said as more people joined in the cheer zone, there was music, barbecues and high fives to the runners.

The Boston Herald reported that the Pioneers Run Crew cheer zone – Mile 21 cheer zone – was filled with grills and barbecues with music to amp up the fun and support the runners.

However, cops surrounded the cheer zone.

“It felt like a traffic stop,” he said. “There was one cop on a bike kind of cruising back and forth. After doing about four passes, he came back with some friends,” Mr Remy told Buzzfeed News.

They formed a human blockade around the members of the Black running club.

“This is what it is to be Black at the Boston marathon,” tweeted activist and author Alison Mariella Désir in all caps and shared a video chronicling the alleged racist policing.

In the video, Mr Remy can be heard saying, “Not the kind of reporting I’m trying to do here, but we got [cops] all around here, and hella cops right behind us”.

He then asks the police officers: “Why are we surrounded by police?” and “Is it like this the whole way of the course?”

Their response, however, was inaudible.

Mr Remy posted a follow-up video on his YouTube channel detailing his experience at the Boston Marathon and the alleged racist policing.

Several observers on social media condemned the police for their behaviour. One user responding to the video wrote: “This right here needs to be addressed. This is not okay and whoever assigned/told these officers that it was, needs help.”

Another person wrote: “This is my hometown of Newton, Massachusetts, and I am ashamed. This is the kind of crap that gives Boston a bad name – and deservedly so it seems.”

Meanwhile, Mr Remy showed footage from earlier in the race when he was high-fiving several racers. He later addresses this in the video: “I know at mile 21, I’d like to high five. We can’t cheer no more. I guess we can’t cheer no more.”

He continues: “We’re cheering too loud? We’re supporting our friends too much?”

He said in the video that the police presence took the “air out of my balloons, the wind out of my sails, so to speak”.

A runner who took part in the marathon responded on Twitter to the original video shared by Ms Mariella Désir.

“I hugged and high-fived people on both sides basically until Boylston where there was a barrier between spectators and runners. This is absolutely racism.”