BOSTON — House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark’s daughter has been charged with assault after an altercation with a police officer who was trying to arrest her for allegedly spray painting anti-cop messages on the Boston Common bandstand.
Riley Dowell, 23, was spotted defacing the bandstand with “NO COP CITY” and “ACAB” — shorthand for “all cops are bastards" — during a protest Saturday night. Dowell is nonbinary and was identified in a police press release Sunday by her birth name.
While she was being arrested, police said roughly 20 protesters began to surround officers, yelling profanities and disrupting traffic. During that time, an officer was “hit in the face and could be seen bleeding from the nose and mouth.”
Clark, the second-ranking House Democrat, acknowledged the incident in a tweet Sunday that quickly went viral.
“Last night, my daughter was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts. I love Riley, and this is a very difficult time in the cycle of joy and pain in parenting,” Clark wrote. “This will be evaluated by the legal system, and I am confident in that process.”
Dowell is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, destruction or injury of personal property and damage of property by graffiti or tagging.
