An all-Black woman-led running team recently filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Boston Athletic Association, Newton, Massachusetts police officers and the city itself.
In a filing on Thursday, the running group TrailblazHers accused the defendants of violating their Fourteenth Amendment rights.
According to the TrailblazHers, last year, the city’s police harassed people associated with their team, including spectators at Mile 21; considered a vital marker to celebrate BIPOC runners, those gathered at Mile 21 were unable to view the runners as the police officers formed a human barricade to prevent them from interacting with the runners. White spectators supporting other running teams weren’t given similar treatment.
The spectators were effectively surrounded by police with officers on motorcycles circling them in the back. The officers also refused to de-escalate the situation.
According to Frances Ramirez, a founder of TrailblazHers, the Boston Athletic Association reportedly apologized to the police officers after the surveillance and harassment of the spectators.
#BREAKING: Boston Marathon Sued for Discrimination by Black Running Crew
— Lawyers for Civil Rights (@LCRBOSTON) April 12, 2024
Seeking to forestall a repeat of the racial profiling incident that occurred at the 2023 #BostonMarathon, a prominent Black-led running group filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the #Newton…
“They should be apologizing to us – the spectators of color who were racially profiled and harassed. The BAA clearly approved the discrimination we experienced last year,” said Ramirex per a statement.“BAA CEO Jack Fleming’s lack of acknowledgment of the Boston Running Collaborative, a collective of BIPOC running crews and leaders of Boston that the BAA created, during a recent news interview was insulting and degrading to the work we have done together.”
With their latest lawsuit, TrailblazHers is currently being represented by the Lawyers For Civil Rights.
In their official release following the filing of the lawsuit, the executive director of the legal services, Iván Espinoza Madrigal, highlighted the dangers the sport can pose for Black runners, highlighting the story of the late Ahmaud Arbery in particular.
On Feb. 23, 2020, 25-year-old Arbery was running in a neighborhood outside of Brunswick, GA, when Greg and Travis McMichael chased him down, arming themselves with weapons and following him in their pickup truck.
They were joined by their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, who videotaped the murder as Travis McMichael shot and killed Arbery from close range.
After over two months of no arrests, the video taken was leaked, leading to national protests for justice for Arbery. Nearly two years later, on January 7, 2022, all three involved were sentenced to life imprisonment; a month later, on February 22, they were found guilty of attempted kidnapping and hate crimes.
“Ahmaud Arbery, an avid Black jogger, was killed while running through a residential neighborhood in Georgia,” said Madrigal. “What happened at Mile 21 in Newton is scary, triggering, and traumatic for people who are repeatedly victimized just for running while Black.”
