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Massachusetts
Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for Massachusetts.
343Documented
1In custody
203Released
3Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Massachusetts
Where Massachusetts’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1930s 103
1920s 40
1800s 32
1970s 30
1980s 27
1910s 27
Recent dashboard entries from Massachusetts
The newest published events and reporting located in Massachusetts, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Prosecution
Judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE gets a rare public reprimand
Arrest
Five arrested during climate protest that blocked traffic in Copley Square
Arrest
Climate protestors block rush hour traffic in downtown Boston
Protest
Protesters demand Charles River Laboratories end beagle testing at its downtown Worcester lab
Arrest
Two arrested plastering anti-ICE posters on a Citizens Bank branch in Boston, part of a campaign over its financing of ICE detention operators
Protest
11 arrested in civil disobedience at Burlington ICE facility
Protest
11 arrested after protesting outside Burlington ICE facility
Protest
Eleven activists arrested trying to deliver care packages to detainees at the Burlington ICE facility
Documented cases
343 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
M
Michael Baternosta
Michael was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike r...
T
Thomas P. Beach
Released
Thomas P. Beach was a Garrisonian abolitionist and nonresistant who was among those jailed for carrying the an...
S
Sam Bell
Released
Sam was a Black man imprisoned at the Deer Island House of Correction for defending himself and his baby daugh...
D
David Benson
Released
David Benson was a young CNVA peace activist from Morgantown, West Virginia, active in Massachusetts. He destr...
J
Jos. A. Berman
Released
Jos. A. Berman was a conscientious objector from Massachusetts imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed...
M
Manuel Bernado
Manuel Bernado was a boy in the New Bedford Strikers Children’s Club taken from a mill picket line to the stat...
A
Anthony Bimba
Anthony Bimba was a labor speaker arrested after a Brockton speech criticizing Lithuanian clergy and religious...
W
Walter Bishop
Released
Walter Bishop was also recorded as Wesley Bishop. Walter Bishop was a Black defendant jailed during Boston’s 1...
J
John Bly
Released
John Bly was a participant in Shays’ Rebellion. Unlike the movement’s leaders, who were pardoned, Bly was conv...
J
John Boampong
Released
John Boampong was arrested on June 1, 2020.
On June 1, 2020 around 3 a.m., Boampong was driving near Arlingto...
C
Charles Bonaccorsi
Charles was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike r...
P
Peter Borizuk
Peter was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike rep...
P
Peter Borrick
Peter Borrick was a Lawrence textile striker whom the Daily Worker, October 22, 1931, page 3 reports as beaten...
M
Maria Botelho
Maria Botelho was one of the New Bedford textile strikers individually named as arrested at the Sharp Mill in...
S
Samuel Bramhall
Samuel was a worker arrested during the 1931 Lawrence textile strike.
The November 9, 1931 Lawrence strike re...
R
Robert Branconnier
Robert Branconnier was individually named in the April 5, 1985 GTE peace witness. The GTE account individually...
M
Mark Brier
Mark Brier is identified in the March11,1977 WorkersVanguard report as a strike supporter in the Cambion-Therm...
D
David Brown
Released
David Brown was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and day laborer who believed that the United States Congres...
E
Earl Brown
Released
Earl was a Black University of Massachusetts football player convicted in the same 1974 Amherst robbery frame-...
T
Timothy Burr
Timothy Burr was among seven anti-fascist demonstrators prosecuted after protesting Nazi propagandist Ernst Ha...
P
Patrick Cabral
Patrick Cabral was taken from his home and arrested in the New Bedford textile-strike prosecution reported on...
H
Harry Cantor
Released
Harry Cantor was a printer imprisoned for carrying a banner at the 1928 Sacco-Vanzetti memorial denouncing Gov...
R
Ralph Carrington
Ralph Carrington was arrested with his brothers when police raided the Carrington family home in Roxbury, Mass...
R
Roger Carrington
Roger Carrington was arrested with his brothers when police raided the Carrington family home in Roxbury, Mass...
Institutions in Massachusetts
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Massachusetts that appear in the census’s case files.
Fort WarrenBoston, Massachusetts
75 cases
Norfolk County Jail Dedham, Massachusetts
10 cases
Boston Court House
3 cases
Charlestown State PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Deer Island PrisonBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Boston JailBoston, Massachusetts
2 cases
Hampshire County Jail (Northampton)Northampton, Massachusetts
1 case
Salem, MA federal jailSalem, Massachusetts
1 case