Just a day after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced new measures to combat growing violence at the Mass. and Cass section of the city, a city councilor was mugged in the area and had her phone snatched right out of her hand, according to the Boston Globe.
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson told the Globe in an interview that she was conducting research in the neighborhood by visiting it on Saturday evening. She said she was taking photos with her cell phone, when a man told her not to take photos, and grabbed her phone before running down the street.
The councilor went to a police officer, who helped to start a search for the missing cell phone. Around a half hour later, a man returned the phone to her, saying he found it on an electrical box, Fernandes Anderson told the Globe.
She said she was not injured.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday morning, Fernandes Anderson said she had asked police to leave her name out of their report.
"Somehow information always gets leaked," she said. "How is this keeping victims of worse crimes safe?"
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On Friday, Mayor Wu, Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden and other officials held at press conference at The BASE in Roxbury to discuss the city's response to the substance use, mental health and homelessness crises centered at Mass. and Cass.
Wu said she will be introducing an ordinance Monday to "empower" police to remove tents and tarps and provide housing at a new, temporary 30-bed facility for those in need. Police would only be allowed to take down tents if individuals living there have already been offered shelter, transportation to that shelter, and storage for their belongings, she said.
The mayor stressed that the 30-bed facility will not be a permanent shelter, but more of an "overflow site." She did not say exactly where the facility will be located, only that it will be near Mass. and Cass.
The ordinance will be taken up at Wednesday's City Council meeting, and a public hearing and vote will be required, which could take up to two months. Wu said her goal is to have the ordinance approved in time for winter.
