Northeastern police explain why officers were unloading bricks from truck

In response to a widely circulated video on social media, Northeastern University police said Tuesday the footage depicts two of their officers unloading bricks collected from a broken sidewalk.

“On Monday, June 1, while on a routine patrol of campus, two of our officers came across a damaged brick sidewalk at the corner of Tremont and Coventry streets that posed a safety hazard for pedestrians due to loose, upturned and broken bricks,” police said in a statement. “To prevent injuries to pedestrians, the officers collected the bricks and returned them to NUPD headquarters, where they immediately notified the City of Boston of a need for repair to the sidewalk and to request that the city collect the broken and damaged bricks.”

On Monday, June 1, while on a routine patrol of campus, two of our officers came across a damaged brick sidewalk at the corner of Tremont and Coventry streets that posed a safety hazard for pedestrians due to loose, upturned and broken bricks.

— NU Police Department (@northeasternpd) June 2, 2020

The video, which garnered millions of views on Twitter, shows the two officers unloading the bricks from a truck behind Northeastern police headquarters. The footage surfaced amid unfounded claims in cities across the country that bricks were placed to instigate violence in protests following the death of George Floyd, the Black man who was killed in Minneapolis police custody last week.

From someone in Boston pic.twitter.com/2rbFQExziR

— polar bear 🕙🌝 (@loch_northern) June 2, 2020

Northeastern police said the video was taken during the series of events described in the department’s statement.

“Our priority is always the safety of our campus and community,” police said.

The video circulating on social media of two Northeastern police officers unloading bricks from their vehicle behind our headquarters is from the series of events described here. Our priority is always the safety of our campus and community.

— NU Police Department (@northeasternpd) June 2, 2020

Update: Damage was visible on the brick sidewalk at Tremont and Coventry streets on Wednesday morning. A few dozen bricks appeared to be missing.

Kaitlyn Johnston / Boston.com