Boston protesters charged after Garner demonstrations

Six people were due to be arraigend in Boston Municipal Court on Friday following their arrests Thursday night during protests that drew thousands to the streets of Boston.

Boston was among several cities that featured demonstrations that protested the lack of an indictment of the New York police officer who choked Eric Garner to death last summer.

Organized by “We Are the Ones,” demonstrators swarmed the Boston Common tree lighting Thursday night.

State Police upped the number of those arrested Friday morning to seven after “an assessment and review of last night’s crowd control and law enforcement actions taken” by the department representative, David Procopio said in an emailed statement.

Three adult women were arrested in front of the State House when they attempted to storm the closed front gate on Beacon Street, Procopio said. They were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Four adult men were arrested on the Massachusetts Turnpike after protesters briefly gained access to the eastbound side of that highway near Exit 24 and blocked traffic, Procopio said. They were charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

A Boston Police spokeswoman said officers arrested two protestersfor disturbing the peace and trespassing. MBTA Transit Police additionally arrested for disorderly conduct and trespassing.

A Suffolk County District Attorney spokesman said only six of those arrested were duei in court Friday.

A New York grand jury cleared NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo on Wednesday, setting off protests. Pantaleo had restrained Garner in a chokehold last July in Staten Island after suspecting Garner had been selling loose cigarettes. Garner died from the chokehold. The incident was captured on camera; Garner can be seen saying “I can’t breathe” as he was being restrained.

The Garner decision was announced just over a week after a Missouri grand jury declined to charge a white policeman who killed Brown in Ferguson, touching off rioting, looting and burning.

Demonstrations over the Garner incident have taken place across the country, including New York, Oakland, Washington, D.C., and Denver.