The charges against the Quincy Four stem from an April 30 encounter with police here who, according to literature published by the CPA, assaulted the young people while they were returning home from a traditional Chinese wedding engagement party.

One cop pepper-sprayed three of the youths directly in the eyes. Three of the police officers roughed up Chen, barely five feet tall, giving her a black eye. One of the four victims, the prospective groom, was knocked unconscious.

In the hearing, presided over by Judge Diane Moriarty, most defense requests for information from the state were granted without contention. But prosecutor Jason Mohan won the judge’s agreement to deny a defense attorney request for the height and weight of the officers involved. A motion to dismiss the charges against the four was postponed until September 14.

After the hearing supporters of the Quincy Four rallied briefly outside the courthouse and then marched to City Hall. Leaving a few individuals on the sidewalk with placards, the majority of protesters crowded inside the lobby while a delegation went to deliver petitions to Mayor William Phelan demanding, among other things, the dropping of charges against the four.

About 10 minutes later an aide to the mayor returned and announced that he would meet with the entire group. An exchange ensued in English and Chinese.

Phelan defended his decision to call for an FBI investigation—a decision, protesters pointed out, those involved in the incident were only then learning about.

Several speakers expressed what appeared to be the majority sentiment: uneasiness with one cop agency investigating another. “If you have the authority to invite the FBI to investigate,” said one protester in Chinese, “you also have the authority to include the community among the investigators.”

“The FBI is going to do it, and that’s it,” Phelan shot back. “Government is empowered to do investigations of this sort. If they’re not part of law enforcement I will not ask them to be part of the investigation.”

The meeting ended with the mayor saying there is no systemic problem between city police and the people of Asian descent. “Quincy has undergone some big changes and the community has been made inviting,” Phelan said.

“It is really important that the police are accountable to the community,” CPA organizer Amee Chew told the Militant. “There’s a growing Asian population in Quincy but they have no representation in government. There have been attacks on immigrants all over the country; this is part of that. It happened on the eve of May 1. It’s just one more example of how police in our communities are out of control and shows why they need to be under a civilian review board.”
 
 
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