A Black-led running group is suing the Boston Marathon’s organizers, the city of Newton, Massachusetts, and the chief of police in Newton over claims that there was racial discrimination during the race last year in a cheer zone.
Days before the 2024 marathon, on Thursday, the all-female running organization TrailblazHers filed a complaint alleging that the city, police, and organizers had violated the plaintiffs’ right to equal treatment under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In a complaint submitted to a Massachusetts court, Newton police were accused of “racially profiling, targeting, and harassing spectators from TrailblazHers Run Co. (“TrailblazHers”) and other running crews that serve primarily people of color on the day of last year’s race.”
According to the complaint, TrailblazHers had set up a designated “cheer zone” in Newton at Mile 21 and had extended an invitation to other running groups headed by individuals of color to join. There were more than a hundred onlookers, “mostly people of color.”
The group has been meeting at Mile 21 for the last four years, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs view the marker as important because it “stands as a key place where runners of color are acknowledged and celebrated,” which contributes to the creation of a “powerful and affirming experience for runners of color.”
The lawsuit lists specific instances of alleged discrimination and claims that non-White spectators at Mile 21 were harassed by police and made to leave, while White spectators were permitted to celebrate and engage with the runners. Photographs that purport to depict the “human barricade” constructed by police officers and their motorcycles are included in the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, police created “a human barricade to physically separate the running crews of colors from the event.” “White spectators in similar circumstances were not given the same treatment.”
Police surveillance and profiling for specific members transforms a day meant for celebration and joy into a source of suffering, embarrassment, and distress,” the grievance claims.
Police on motorcycles “positioned themselves on the roadway behind the Plaintiffs’ cheer zone, effectively enclosing and penning in the persons in the cheer zone of color,” according to the complaint, in addition to creating a human barricade between the spectators and the runners.
Newton police issued the following statement shortly after the incident last year, “The Newton Police Department responded respectfully and repeatedly requesting that spectators stay behind the rope and not encroach onto the course after being notified by the B.A.A. (Boston Athletic Association) three times about spectators traversing the rope barrier and impeding runners.” “The NPD and additional officers calmly used bicycles to demarcate the course and ensure the safety of both the runners and spectators when spectators persisted in crossing the rope.
John Carmichael, the chief of police in Newton, responded to the complaint on Friday on Facebook, writing, “More importantly, I stand by our officers who acted appropriately, respectfully and as expected.”
The Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the marathon, told TFD they were aware of the complaint but “have not yet had the opportunity to review it.”
“Our goal is to make everyone’s experience joyful,” the group continued.
According to the lawsuit, TrailblazHers met with city officials and the Boston Athletics Association ten times to discuss the incident; however, neither the association nor the police “enacted any meaningful reforms to prevent racial profiling and harassment from happening again.”
This year’s Boston Marathon is expected to see 30,000 runners travel from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to Boston. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people watch the race, which began in 1897, and support the athletes as they go on their incredible adventure.
According to its website, Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based legal organization that fights prejudice, represents TrailblazHers.
Lawyers for Civil Rights, citing the 2020 death of Black runner Ahmaud Arbery, linked police harassment during the marathon to a broader problem of racism in running in a news release released on Friday.
According to the news release, Iván Espinoza Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, “overpolicing and hate crimes help explain why running remains a heavily white sport.” “Ahmaud Arbery, a passionate Black jogger, lost his life while passing through a Georgian home neighborhood. The events that transpired at Mile 21 in Newton are unsettling, upsetting, and painful for those who are assaulted by racism on a regular basis.
According to the news release, TrailblazHers “was formed to increase diversity in Boston’s largely white and elite running community.” “There are over 2,500 BIPOC runners in the group.”
Lawyers for Civil Rights senior staff attorney Miriam Albert stated, “We are prepared to seek immediate court intervention if BAA (Boston Athletics Association) or local police engage in the type of discriminatory conduct that spectators of color endured last year in Newton.”
In their case, TrailblazHers seeks “compensatory, punitive, and nominal damages” and has requested a jury trial.
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