Boston's Democratic mayor's office admits it sent police a list of critics

Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu's team sent a list of her administration’s critics to the Boston Police Department. This was admitted by her spokesman Ricardo Patron in a report published by the Boston Herald.

Patron alleged that it was the police who asked for the list to be drawn up because the "mayor had been harassed and physically intimidated by individuals for several months outside her home, at city functions such as the annual neighborhood parks coffee hours, and at other public events."

After what happened at that July 5 parade last year, a district captain reportedly asked for a "list of individuals who had been involved in public disruption" in anticipation of the Bunker Hill Day Parade a week later, according to Patron.

Christine Vitale, a candidate for city council; Shana Cottone, a former police officer fired for, among other things, her opposition to vaccination mandates; and the Mendoza brothers of the North End, restaurant owners who sued Wu over her policies. Those are some of the at least 15 people listed in the email sent by former Voter Services Director Dave Vittorini to Captain Robert Ciccolo, as can be read in a copy of the email released by the Boston Accountability Network.

Patron did not elaborate on the criteria used to select these individuals or what actions the police would have taken.