Boston City Council meeting erupts over Arroyo allegations

At a fiery meeting Wednesday, Boston city councilors traded barbs and shouted at each other over how the council has responded to allegations of sexual assault against councilor and Suffolk County district attorney candidate Ricardo Arroyo.

Arroyo has been under fire since The Boston Globe reported last week that, when he was a teenager, he was twice investigated for separate allegations of sexual assault. Arroyo denies the allegations, insists he has not assaulted anyone and says he was never informed of the charges.

Councilor Frank Baker had requested records from the city about the investigation of Arroyo. He rescinded that request at Wednesday's meeting, but not before making an ominous statement.

"If a predator continues to roam, the killing field only becomes larger," he said.

Baker also railed against a request, submitted by Councilor Kendra Lara, for records related to his 1993 conviction for possession with intent to distribute. He called it "retaliation."

Lara also rescinded her request, which she said she filed to illustrate a point: "That people of color in the city and on this council are not only held to higher standards, they are also disciplined in harsher ways by leadership."

Boston City Council President Ed Flynn stripped Arroyo of his leadership positions on the council two days ago after the initial reporting by the Globe.

Arroyo lost more major endorsements on Wednesday in his primary contest against interim Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey withdrew their support. That came after a victim in the first case, from 2005, told the Boston Globe that she stands by her allegations and that Arroyo's denials made her "sick to my stomach." The second woman, in a 2007 case that was investigated and closed without charges, has said that Arroyo never assaulted her.

During the council meeting, Arroyo did not speak on his own behalf. (Flynn directed that only Baker and Lara were able to speak on their requests for records). But several councilors, all women of color, highlighted the racism they and others who look like them face.

"Here, people are not innocent until proven guilty," Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson said. "People are guilty first. People are crucified. People are lynched."

Using expletives, she asked what she had to do on the council "in order to get respect as a Black woman."

Multiple times, Flynn directed councilors not to interrupt each other and the public in the gallery to stay quiet. Near the end of the meeting he ordered the chambers emptied by police.

In a statement released after the meeting, Flynn said councilors need to treat each other with "respect and dignity ... and learn from each other's lived experiences."

"We need to continue to focus on the big picture, work together as colleagues, and to
improve the quality of life for the people of Boston," the statement said. "Boston works best when we work together!"

Arroyo filed an emergency order in Suffolk Superior Court seeking to have the investigative records released to him. The files are not public, under a state law that requires police records of sexual assault stay confidential, including from the suspect.

In a statement Wednesday, he reiterated his denials of the allegations and said that the files "will prove that law enforcement determined at the time that these claims were unfounded."