It’s been nearly a year since Bostonians by the thousands gathered at the Boston Common tree-lighting ceremony, not to partake of festivities but to express frustration in solidarity with others across the country. Those not protesting bore witness to citizens, students to seniors of all colors, insistent that black lives matter. Among the witnesses, of course, were dozens and dozens of police officers from area departments. MuckRock wants to know what they saw.

Shortly after the protests, we submitted a request for materials caught on video by Boston Police Department officials whom we had seen capturing footage of events.

The BPD has responded, stating that they have 6 DVDs worth of footage, focused (more or less) on the goings-on of the protests, and they’re asking for over a hundred dollars. If we can raise even just half of this, we’ll be able to combine funds to obtain and release the footage publicly, for all to see and use, in time for the anniversary.

Police shootings - by gun and by camera - will be a large part of the dataset used for police accountability going forward. But their images also capture an important part of the documentary record. Help us release them, and then consider filing a similar request for footage in your area.

Donate below, or on the request page.

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