Four arrested at Roxbury eviction protest

(Mark Wilson/Globe Staff)

One of the protesters being arrested.

By Tania deLuzuriaga, Globe Staff

Four protesters trying to prevent the eviction of a Roxbury woman from her home were arrested this morning after they chained themselves to the steps of her back porch.

Officials from Bank of America had ordered Paula Taylor out of her Perrin Street home by 9 a.m. As a constable arrived this morning, 40 protesters stood chanting in the street; others had chained themselves to the railings on the front and back steps.

The people chained to the front steps, including one man who was in a wheelchair, weren't arrested. But police cut the chains and arrested those on the back steps. It was the first time activists working to prevent evictions had been arrested, said Soledad Lawrence, an organizer with City Life, a Jamaica Plain non-profit that has been working to end the spate of foreclosures and evictions in Boston neighborhoods.

“This is our eighth blockade and the first time there have been arrests,” said Lawrence, who was chained to the front steps of the slate-blue home.

“They can be more aggressive and we’ll be more aggressive,” she said.

Yellow police tape blocked the driveway as movers loaded Taylor’s belongings into a truck. Boston Police said those arrested would face charges of disturbing the peace; their names were not immediately released.

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