Friday, August 1st Events
On the evening of Friday, August 1st, heavily armed Cambridge police pursued a Black member of the Cambridge community from Central Square through Clement Morgan Park to his home at 243 Broadway, with guns drawn. During this pursuit, they shot him with “less lethal munitions.”
This individual was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Over the next 18 hours, the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) surrounded the building where he lived, called in SWAT teams, and launched chemical weapons into his apartment. These chemicals entered the ventilation system, causing respiratory distress for residents on all six floors of the building.
What the police did not provide was any mental health treatment or support.
Several residents of the building awoke in the early hours of August 2nd, coughing and experiencing respiratory distress. This included at least one elderly resident, a one-year-old child, a resident with asthma, and others. Several residents exited the building in distress, utterly unaware that chemical weapons had been used against them.
Initially, police and fire department personnel on site refused repeated requests to inform all residents of the building that chemical weapons had been deployed. First responders only began knocking on doors on the upper floors at 3:44 AM, after being confronted by multiple community members at 3:00 AM.
As of 3 AM, eight hours after the police surrounded the building, no mental health clinician or professional had spoken to the individual experiencing the crisis. Police Superintendent Cabral confirmed this.
The subsequent CPD statement claimed that police fired one pepper ball into the apartment. However, internal radio communications from the CPD indicate “gas” was introduced into Unit 105 at 12:07 AM, and this action was described as “OC rounds” (plural). The same action occurred again at 12:29 AM. Later calls from first responders mentioned deploying “OC and tear gas.”
Although we do not yet know the exact substances used by the police, they were strong enough to permeate a six-story building and cause residents to flee in distress over an hour later.
Cambridge police are not mental health workers; they are not qualified to address a mental health crisis and did not effectively address this one.
What they did do was use gas against a mentally ill Black man and the residents of his building. The CPD has once again shown a callous disregard for the lives, health, and safety of a Black community member as well as the broader Cambridge community.
Timeline Of Events
“Below, we have videos and visuals of the events, as well as some audio recordings of police transmissions and communications, and a selection of images”
Friday 8/1
At 6:46 PM, CPD armed with a 40 mm “less lethal launcher”, an AR-style semiautomatic rifle, and at least one drawn handgun chase a man on Washington St./Columbia St at Clement Morgan Park. A loud popping sound is heard consistent with “less lethal” munitions. NO VIDEO.
By approximately 7:10 pm, CPD has created a perimeter around the residential building at 243 Broadway St.
Residents of the first floor of 243 Broadway, neighbors, and community members gathered across the street from 243 Broadway in the parking lot.
Video #1 - At 8:08 PM, the SWAT team enters the building.
Saturday 8/2
Video #2 - At 12:07 AM, CPD Special Ops initiates “gas” into Unit 105 (Faustin’s unit), where he is having a mental health crisis.
At 12:11 AM, Cops are seen leaving the building and coughing due to exposure to gas. NO VIDEO
At 12:16 AM, Smoke is visible through the window in the stairwell. NO VIDEO
Video #3 - At 12:29 AM, CPD Special Ops initiates gas into Faustin’s unit
Image #4 - At 12:33 AM, another cop is seen leaving the building and coughing due to exposure to gas
Video #5 - At 1:02 AM, CPD Special Ops indicates that “the apartment door has been breached.” They also suggest that a robot has been sent in and that Faustin is in the bathroom.
Video #6 - At 1:05 AM, the Resident calls EMS and states that CPD sprayed something and now the resident is coughing, and the 4th-floor unit they are in is not breathable (CPD police and EMS audio)
Video #7 - At 1:08 AM, a CPD Special Ops officer calls, coughing and states that they are “going to need to evacuate.”
Asks for the Fire Department to be called. States they will evacuate 3rd and 4th floors for “OC exposure”
Video #8 - At 1:26 AM, call EMS to come for an elderly patient exposed to OC, and also a one-year-old child.
Video #9 - At 1:37 AM, Cambridge EMS is reporting to Cambridge Hospital that they are transporting a 1-year-old with “gas” exposure.
At 1:42 AM, some building residents outside are directed to the Fletcher Maynard School, which has been opened for them. NO VIDEO
At 1:48 AM, for the third time, smoke fills the stairwell, visible through the window from the street. NO VIDEO
Video #10 - At 1:49 AM, Cambridge asks Belmont for an ALS truck (Advanced Life Support)
“Police have deployed OC and tear gas into the unit, and it’s now into the ventilation there, so we have some patients with OC and Tear gas exposure.” Audio
At 2:34 AM, EMS wheels out a person on a stretcher from inside the resident building at 243 Broadway. NO VIDEO
Video #11, Video #12, Video #13, Video #14, Video #15 - At 3:00 AM, Community members confront the Cambridge Fire Department and CPD, notifying them that some residents on the 6th floor who exited the building do not know that tear gas has been deployed and are sick. Community members ask the Cambridge Fire Department if they have knocked on doors and why they have not used the PA system to notify residents of exposure. Community members also confront CPD, asking if any mental health professionals/clinicians have been called to speak to the man in the building having a mental health crisis. When asked if any mental health professionals have talked to the man in the building, Police Superintendent Cabral states, “No.” Also, when asked if tear gas works better than mental health support for someone who is having a mental health crisis, Superintendent Cabral states, “That was the decision that was made at that time.”
Video #16 - At 3:44 AM, Cambridge Inter-agency PD-FD communicates that they will start knocking on doors on floors 5 and 6 “to assess”
Video #17 - At 4:06 AM, Cambridge Inter-Agency PD-FD states, “all floors have been surveyed.” “Occupants we have made contact with have decided to shelter in place.” “No evidence of residue or substance in the apartments.”
At 11:20 AM, the Police start creating new and wider boundary perimeters with police tape. NO VIDEO
Video #18 - At 11:22 AM, Commissioner Elow arrives and attempts to speak with the residents.
Video #19 - At 11:23 AM, Commissioner Elow goes into the building with other officers.
At 12:06 PM, the Police Commissioner is on-site. NO VIDEO
At 12:19 PM, A neighbor states they are waiting on City Hall permission to break in. NO VIDEO
At 12:44 PM, Denise Simmons is onsite. NO VIDEO
At 12:54 PM, Princiano Faustin was brought out to the ambulance, awake, turns head to the left. NO VIDEO
CPD Special Ops and interagency audio was obtained from www.openmhz.com
