Somerville teens arraigned for police brawl

  By Nicole R. McEwen   

    Two Somerville teens accused of assaulting Medford Police officers were arraigned Monday at the Cambridge District Court in a trial scheduled to begin September 7th. 
     Isiah E. Anderson, 17, and Calvin Belfon Jr., 18, were read a host of charges, including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and other related charges.

Somerville teens arraigned for police brawl

By Nicole R. McEwen   

       Two Somerville teens accused of assaulting Medford Police officers were arraigned Monday at the Cambridge District Court in a trial scheduled to begin September 7th. 
       Isiah E. Anderson, 17, and Calvin Belfon Jr., 18, were read a host of charges, including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and other related charges.  Three other teenagers are being prosecuted in Cambridge Juvenile Court on similar charges resulting from the April 20th incident, in which the Medford Police claim the young men taunted and brutally attacked officers in front of Store 24 on Mystic Avenue in Medford, leaving four officers injured, according to Lieutenant Paul F. Covino of the Medford Police. 
     Police said the teenagers had ignored their requests to leave the area after a nearby carnival had closed down.  Covino said a clerk at Store 24 complained the boys were being disruptive, and when officers approached the group of teens outside the store they were attacked.  The teens grabbed weapons off the police officers’ belts and used a baton to hit one officer in the face, said Covino.   
     However, several community groups are rallying in support of the teens, alleging the five Somerville High School students, who are black, are victims of racial profiling and police brutality.
    Groups defending the boys, including the Greater Love Tabernacle Church of Dorchester, the Boston branch of the NAACP, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement, and International Action Center, hosted a press conference last month and called for all charges to be dropped, highlighting the strong academic, athletic, and personal accomplishments of the five teenagers. 
      NAACP Boston Branch President Leonard Alkins, who spoke with the boys, said at the press conference that police initiated the altercation by punching one of the kids in the mouth.  Pastor William Dickerson of the Greater Love Tabernacle said he knew all five teens, three of which attend “Club 101”, a youth program that puts on performances aimed at teenage audiences.
Dickerson and other activist’s said they are not out to absolve the boys entirely from blame.  “We’re not condoning fighting with cops,” he said.  “But something happened that night.  These are good kids.  [They] would not just hit a cop unprovoked.”
      Susan Mortimer, whose children attend Somerville schools, helped man a picket line outside the Cambridge District Court during the boys’ arraignment.  Holding a sign that read “Drop the Racist Charges Against the Somerville 5,” Mortimer vented anger toward the “oppressive” Somerville school system and its Superintendent, Dr. Albert Argenziano, who suspended the five teens despite a petition signed by 300 SHS students demanding their reinstatement.
     “This isn’t the first time the police have physically intimidated kids at the high school,” Mortimer said.  “[Principal] Galligani and the headmasters aren’t doing enough to protect the students.”
      Edward Childs of the International Action Center says at least twelve to fifty people have attended and protested at each court hearing in support of the “Somerville 5.”
     Mortimer said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone has not responded to calls from families of the Somerville 5, despite having posed for a picture with the boys during a school event prior to the incident.
     Mark W. Shey, one of the defense attorneys working on the Somerville 5 case, advised the teens and their families to refrain from talking to the media for the time being. 
     The police officers involved in the incident have also pledged themselves to silence.  “It’s an active, ongoing investigation – I can’t say anything more,” Officer Harold F. MacGilvray said.