Last
month, seven people found trespassing near “critical infrastructure” — a
water reservoir just outside of Boston that serves the city’s metro
area and much of the eastern part of the state — were cleared of
terrorist suspicions.
This week, the clerk magistrate decided not to
press charges against the individuals, but the Massachusetts State
Police are appealing this decision.
The
group, which included Muslim adults from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and
Singapore, were detained by authorities, interviewed and later released.
After an investigation, it was decided they were not engaging or planning to engage in criminal or terrorist activity.
Although trespassing in and of itself was against the law, the clerk magistrate decided this week not to issue criminal complaints against
those in the group, which had been summoned to Belchertown district
court, according to The Republican. But the state police are appealing
the decision because the trespassing took place at a “critical
infrastructure key resource site,” Massachusetts State Police
Spokesman David Procopio told The Republican.
“In our
view, the clerk’s decision was contrary to our past understanding with
the court, specifically, that the continuance without criminal
complaints (which is how minor motor vehicle matters are generally
handled) is not the resolution in cases involving violations of the
Quabbin watershed rules. This has been the practice in recent years,”
Procopio said.
To be
clear, the appeal doesn’t seem to be pushing for terror charges, but
rather trespassing ones. As of right now, the appeal is waiting judicial
review, Procopio told The Republican. TheBlaze contacted the state
police department for a comment but did not hear back in time for this
posting.
With no criminal charges yet, the names of the trespassers remain undisclosed. This case couples with an incident in early June where three of the four locks to an aqueduct outside of Boston were found cut.
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