MILTON — Protesters who said they wanted better race relations blocked traffic on Interstate 93 north and south of Boston Thursday morning, surprising police, snarling the commute for thousands of people, and forcing the diversion of an ambulance rushing a car crash victim to a Boston hospital, State Police said.
The protests on the major highway artery into the city were reported at 7:40 a.m. on I-93 South at Mystic Avenue in Medford and at 7:30 a.m. at I-93 North at East Milton Square, State Police Colonel Timothy Alben said at a news conference.
The protesters in Medford were reported removed by shortly after 8 a.m., State Police said, but the protesters in Milton, who had attached themselves to heavy barrels, weren’t removed until about 9:45 a.m.
The Milton protesters didn’t belong to any particular group, but were united in their belief that race relations need to be improved, said protest spokeswoman Shannon Leary.
“Disruptions wake people up a little bit from their privilege and insulation,” she said. “Things have to change.”
VIDEO: Woman explains rationale behind protestAlben said he respected people’s First Amendment rights to protest but the protesters had gone too far.
He said a car crash victim from Easton with life-threatening injuries who was being transferred to a Boston trauma center had to be diverted because of the traffic tieup caused by the protests. He also pointed out that numerous other police, fire, and rescue workers were called to the protests, taking them away from other possible emergencies.
He urged protesters to recognize their actions could have unintended consequences, calling their conduct “not only immature and not only irresponsible, but ... reckless and it’s endangering people’s lives.”
Trooper Nicole Morrell, a State Police spokeswoman, said no injuries were reported.
A total of 29 people were arrested in the two incidents. The 18 arrested in Medford were taken for booking at the State Police barracks in Medford. The 11 arrested in Milton were taken to the Milton and South Boston barracks.
Alben said they faced charges such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, and, in some cases, resisting arrest.
In Milton, some or all lanes were closed while a group of protesters laid in the far left and far right lanes of the highway and efforts were made to detach them from the barrels they were attached to.
A State Police tweet showed two women, each with an arm apparently stuck inside a white steel drum.
State Police, and Boston and Milton firefighters draped one protester with a protective blanket as they tried to disengage him, using power saws, hammer, and a chisel.
When a Boston firefighter’s power saw generated sparks that flew onto the protester, he screamed in pain. The firefighter stopped, and more blankets and protective tarps were brought to protect the protesters.
PHOTOS: Scenes from the protests
Scott Eisen for The Boston Globe
Leary, the protest spokeswoman, said the group arrived around 7:20 a.m. Six of them attached themselves to four drums filled with concrete, each weighing 1,200 pounds. Leary said the protesters stuck their arms in the barrels and had concrete poured over them.
Leary said the protesters were acting in solidarity with people who have protested the recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City.
“I personally can’t understand why the act of killing a black child is not enough for people to stop,” she said.
Leary said her protest group was not linked to the other protesters who blocked the highway north of the city.
The protesters on the highway were joined by others who held a banner reading, “End White Supremacy” above, on the overpass at East Milton Square. Those protesters, who included Leary, were periodically confronted by passersby who were critical of the protest.
Alben said the six people who were attached to the barrels were arrested, along with three people who had alighted with them from a large box truck that had stopped on the highway. He said another two people had been arrested for being “involved” with the rented box truck.
Philip Wood of Rockland who owns a construction company and is working on renovations in the area, said he would have to send a dozen of his workers home without pay because of the protest.
“This entire situation, which I have no control over and I have no part of, has totally destroyed everybody’s lives,” Wood said.
Wood was expecting a concrete truck to arrive at 9 a.m., but it was blocked by traffic resulting from the protest. Without the concrete, his work is stalled and his employees will not receive pay.
Wood said he was not unsympathetic to protesters, but there are other ways to go about it.
“All they do when they do something like this is alienate people to their cause,” he said.
In the Medford protest, a group of people chained themselves together through PVC pipe, in a tactic called a “sleeping dragon,” blocking the roadway, Alben said.
Alben called for protesters to “talk to someone” about their demands, rather than simply continuing to protest.
Governor Charlie Baker also criticized the protests in an appearance on WGBH-FM’s Jim and Margery Show.
“I’m a big believer in the right to protest, but I think tying up traffic and putting cement barrels down in the middle of a highway is a bad idea,” he said. “I do know of at least one ambulance that had to be diverted, and I think that sort of disruption is above and beyond. Folks, I believe, were appropriately arrested, and it was the right thing to do.”
Two of the protesters in Medford complained of scrapes on their arms. Rescue crews were called to the barracks, but the protesters refused to be transported to the hospital after being checked out, fire officials said.
Locations of the protests
DATA: MSP
Globe Staff
Related coverage:
• Photos: Firefighters work to remove protesters from barrels
• Opinion | Ward Sutton: Where race relations stand in America
Laura Crimaldi of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Jean Lang and Aneri Pattani contributed to this report.