Boston

Boston Task Force Employee Fired After City Hall Arrest

Officers found the man lying down in an office, sage and incense burning, according to a Boston police report

A man who worked on Boston's Task Force on Reparations was arrested at City Hall last week on suspicion of trespassing, according to a police report.

The city has since terminated George Williams' contract, which was part-time, a spokesman said Thursday.

"We remain committed to the work of the Reparations Task Force and that work will continue," the spokesman said in a statement.

It wasn't immediately clear if Williams had an attorney who could speak to his arrest.

The Boston Herald first reported on the incident, which was called in Thursday, May 18, about 9:40 p.m., according to a police report.

City Hall police had Williams in custody, telling Boston officers that he'd been staying in the buiding after hours for three weeks and sometimes threatening other people in the building, according to the Boston police report. He would allegedly sleep in offices that weren't his after bypassing security and then become aggressive when told to leave.

"It was also a concern to Municipal Officers that Williams would burn sage inside of the building and in small spaces, which could pose … a fire hazard," the report said.

When city officers headed to the room where Williams was, they found him lying down in an office, sage and incense burning, according to the report. They urged him to leave, but after several minutes he eventually became combative, police said, and resisted arrest when officers decided it was time to take him into custody.

Williams' biography page on the city's website was taken down as of Thursday, May 25. According to an archived version, he's from Dorchester, trained as a social demographer and is committed to social justice and freedom.

Contact Us