Kenmore Square Scare

Police respond to political pranksters at Bank of America

March 31, 2009
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Photos by Vicky Waltz

Several employees of the Kenmore Square branch of Bank of America were trapped inside their office Tuesday morning when political pranksters locked a mannequin to the outside door. The dummy, dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, had a note pinned to its chest that read: “Real Dummies Evict People and Cause Climate Chaos.”

Captain William Evans of the Boston Police Department says he believes the stunt was intended to protest the eviction of people from homes lost because of the mortgage crisis. “I’m sure it had something to do with the economic crisis going on in this country at this time,” Evans says.

Boston police, including a bomb squad, responded to a call from bank employees at 8:37 a.m. and closed Kenmore Square for more than an hour, until they determined that the dummy did not conceal an explosive device.

Evans says that police are looking for the perpetrators and will review tapes recorded by surveillance cameras in the area. “When we apprehend them,” he says, “they will be charged with crimes.”

“I hope this is only one prank,” he adds. “I hope whoever did this, and people watching, realize that pranks like this just cause a lot of anxiety, cause people to be late for work, to be late for doctor’s appointments. Heaven forbid we would have a real emergency here.”

No protests took place on Boston University’s campus.

Additional reporting by Art Jahnke, Jessica Ullian, Amy Laskowski, and Seth Rolbein.

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There are 6 comments on Kenmore Square Scare

  5. johnny law says, “When we apprehend them,” he says, “they will be charged with crimes.”

    oh yeah; which ones? indecent treatment of a mannequin? littering? thoughtcrime? the same trumped up horsesh*t the fellow who put up lite brites around boston was railroaded with?

    “I hope whoever did this, and people watching, realize that pranks like this just cause a lot of anxiety, cause people to be late for work, to be late for doctor’s appointments. Heaven forbid we would have a real emergency here.”

    uh huh; and eviction, worldwide economic collapse, and the climate crisis clearly neither cause anxiety nor count as real emergencies, i suppose.

    and to the journalistic wonder-team that put this awkward piece together, this “stunt” was clearly directed at BofA for being complicit in all three–unsound investment and lending practices that exacerbated both the housing bubble and the meltdown and “climate chaos” must refer to their environmentally reckless support of the coal industry. its timing likely has as much to do with the G20 summit as april fools. live dissent, as in london, would be preferable but one is likely to catch a gas canister in the eye, baton to the head or get run over my a motorcycle [autobiographical] exercising actual free speech in kenmore.

    wake up, captain and authors! the public’s hyper-anxiety, the state’s rampant paranoia and security obsession, and corporate irresponsibility are the symptoms, not the prank. but good job keeping the “law & order” cover; as long as we get those who still have jobs into work on time, properly shame deviants, and are sure never to legitimize dissent, things will continue to be just fine.

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