Running group led by black women sues Boston Marathon organizers and Newton police chief for alleged racial discrimination

A black-led running group is suing the organizers of the Boston Marathon as well as the town of Newton, Massachusetts, and the Newton police chief for alleged racial discrimination that allegedly took place in a cheer zone during from last year’s race.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the all-female running group TrailblazHers, just days before the 2024 marathon, alleges that organizers, the city and police violated the plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection under the law.

On race day last year, Newton police “singled out spectators from TrailblazHers Run Co. (“TrailblazHers”) and other running teams that primarily serve people of color, racially profiling them, targeting and harassing them,” according to the complaint filed. in a Massachusetts court.

TrailblazHers had organized a Newton-specific “cheer zone” at Mile 21 and invited other running groups led by people of color to join them, the complaint states. More than a hundred spectators, “mostly people of color,” were gathered there.

For the past four years, the group has gathered at Mile 21, the complaint says, and that marker is important to the plaintiffs: “It is a key location where runners of color are recognized and celebrated.” , helping to create a “powerful movement and affirming experience for runners of color.”

The lawsuit details specific acts of alleged discrimination, claiming that while white spectators were allowed to interact with and celebrate runners, non-white spectators at Mile 21 were harassed by police and asked to stay back. The lawsuit includes photos that appear to show the “human barricade” created by police officers and their bikes.

Police formed “a human barricade to physically separate the color teams from the event,” the complaint alleges. “White spectators in a similar situation received no such treatment.”

“For individual members, profiling and police stops transform what should be a day of joy and festivity into one of pain, humiliation and trauma,” the complaint states.

In addition to forming a human barricade between spectators and runners, police officers on motorcycles also “stationed themselves in the street behind the plaintiffs’ cheering zone, effectively surrounding and corralling the people of color in the cheering zone.” , the complaint states.

Shortly after last year’s incident, Newton police said in a statement: “After being notified three times by the BAA (Boston Athletic Association) that spectators were crossing the rope barrier and obstructing the runners, Newton police responded respectfully and repeatedly requested that spectators remain. behind the rope and not encroach on the course,” according to CNN affiliate WFXT. “When spectators continued to cross the rope, NPD and additional officers calmly used bicycles for a short period of time to cordon off the course and ensure the safety of runners and spectators.”

Newton Police Chief John Carmichael addressed the lawsuit in a Facebook post Friday, saying, “I stand by my decisions that day and, more importantly, I support our officers who acted appropriately , respectful and as expected. »

The Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the marathon, told CNN it was aware of the complaint but “has not yet had an opportunity to review it.”

“We strive to create a joyful experience for everyone,” the organization added.

The lawsuit says TrailblazHers participated in 10 meetings with the Boston Athletics Association as well as meetings with city officials to address the incident, but neither police nor the association “enacted meaningful reforms to prevent racial profiling and harassment does not happen again.”

A total of 30,000 people are expected to run from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to Boston in this year’s Boston Marathon. The race, which began in 1897, attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators each year who cheer on the athletes throughout their epic journey.

TrailblazHers is represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based legal group that fights discrimination, according to its website.

In a press release issued Friday, Lawyers for Civil Rights framed police harassment at the marathon as part of a broader problem of racism in running and referenced the 2020 killing of Black runner Ahmaud Arbery.

“Excessive policing and hate crimes help explain why running remains a predominantly white sport,” Iván Espinoza Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in the press release. “Ahmaud Arbery, an avid black jogger, was killed while walking through a residential neighborhood in Georgia. What happened at Mile 21 in Newton is frightening, triggering and traumatic for people who are repeatedly victimized simply for running while black.

TrailblazHers “was created to increase diversity within Boston’s largely white and elite running community,” the press release states. “The group has over 2,500 BIPOC runners.”

“We are prepared to seek immediate court intervention if the BAA (Boston Athletics Association) or local police engage in the type of discriminatory behavior that spectators of color endured last year in Newton,” said Mirian Albert, senior attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights. said.

TrailblazHers has requested a jury trial and the lawsuit seeks “compensatory, punitive and nominal damages.”

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