Holly MatkinBoston, MA – U.S. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s non-binary son was arrested on Saturday night after he allegedly hit a Boston police officer in the face and spray-painted anti-police phrases on a local monument.
Boston Police Department (BPD) officers assigned to the downtown district responded to the Parkman Bandstand Monument located inside the Boston Common at 139 Tremont Street at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 after receiving calls about a “protest” taking place there, the department said in a press release the following day.
Police said they arrived to find 23-year-old Jared Dowell spray-painting the monument with the phrases, “ACAB” and “NO COP CITY.”
“Cop City” refers to the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center some 1,000 miles away in Georgia, which has been occupied by an encampment of violent rioters for more than a year.
“During the arrest of Jared Dowell, a group of about 20 protesters began to surround officers while screaming profanities though megaphones on the public street causing traffic to come to a standstill,” the BPD said.
One officer was struck in the face during the confrontation and was seen “bleeding from the nose and mouth,” according to police.
It appears that the child of Democrat House Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark was arrested for assaulting police as part of an #antifa event in Boston last night.
Jared 'Riley' Dowell allegedly graffiti'd "stop cop city" and assaulted police while resisting arrest. https://t.co/yP0oAPbpJv pic.twitter.com/LC7ZSaSIG0
— AntifaWatch (@AntifaWatch2) January 22, 2023
Dowell was ultimately arrested on charges of assault by means of a dangerous weapon, damage of property by graffiti/tagging, and destruction or injury of personal property.
Clark confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that the individual arrested in Boston is her child, who she referred to as her daughter, Riley.
“Last night, my daughter was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts,” Clark wrote. “I love Riley, and this is a very difficult time in the cycle of joy and pain in parenting.”
“This will be evaluated by the legal system, and I am confident in that process,” she added.
Jared 'Riley' Dowell also appears to run a leftist mutual aid group and has posted about it on anarchist & anticapitalist subreddits.
In doing so we were able to ID his reddit account. He appears to have come out 2 years ago. pic.twitter.com/71DxLrUFZs
— AntifaWatch (@AntifaWatch2) January 22, 2023
Dowell appeared in Boston Municipal Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty, Politico reported.
He was released on $500 bail and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 19.
Jared "Riley" Dowell, the "daughter" of the Democrat House Minority Whip @RepKClark, has transitioned several times. Jared was trans nonbinary, but is now apparently identifying as a woman. Jared was arrested yesterday for assault at a violent #Antifa direct action. pic.twitter.com/OQZPjvc07C
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 23, 2023
Clark, a Democrat, told reporters during an unrelated event in Boston on Monday that she does not endorse acts of violence against law enforcement officers, Politico reported.
“I condemn violence against everyone, whether that is against police or against community members as a result of any person or government entity,” she said. “If we are talking about the importance of police in our communities, it has been my work and my vision and priority that every single person in every single ZIP code has … an assumption of safety in their communities. And that is the work that I’ve done. And police are critical partners in that work going forward.”
