Boston Police officers and Occupy protesters clashed Thursday night after police confiscated a donated sink from Occupy’s encampment on Dewey Square.
The city considers sinks signs of permanent inhabitation, which is prohibited in the square.
Demonstrators blocked the police vehicle but eventually dispersed. Police arrested one person, according to BPD Officer James Kenneally said. Occupy Boston’s official Twitter account, however, put the number arrested at three.
Occupy’s Twitter account also reported that one protester was injured in the skirmish.
“Essentially members of the occupy Boston site wanted to wield an industrial-sized sink onto the location,” Kenneally said.
“Nothing permanent would be allowed inside the site,” he said. “And the sink fell under that category. “
A group of protesters were gathering for their General Assembly when one man donated a sink, which the police quickly took, said a protester who asked to be called “Mighty Mike.”
“We surrounded the sink, surrounded the officers and asked a simple question – ‘What law prevents us from having a sink in here?’ And they refused to answer us,” Mike said.
He said that some Occupants continued to insist on an answer from police.
So half of us sat down, the other half locked arms and we kept asking,” Mike said. “We put pressure on them. They put more pressure on us and they threw the sink into the paddy wagon.”
The protesters currently use large containers to wash their dishes at the dishwashing station, but have received complaints from the city about being more sanitary, Occupiers said.
“[The sink] was to help us keep things sanitary, which is one thing they were complaining about,” said Occupier Drake Higgins. “They were complaining about sanitary conditions. We had to clean things up, so we get donated a really nice sink and they wouldn’t let us have it.”
Higgins also said that his friend, who sat in front of the vehicle with the sink, was almost run over.
The incident occurred at a pressing time for the movement, only hours after a judge extended Occupy’s restraining order against the city to Dec. 15.
Bianca Piemonte, a senior at Bridgewater State University , said that she is doubtful that the movement may last much longer.
“I feel like what happened tonight might cause something to happen this weekend,” Piemonte said. “Like they might just raid it. Who knows?“
Higgins said that if police evict Occupy Boston from Dewey Square, protesters should move to Washington, D.C.
“Every Occupy there is should all go to D.C. I think,” Higgins said. “Go in front of Congress and the politicians.”
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