Boston pays $150K to 2 men wrongfully accused in infamous murder case
The City of Boston has paid a total of $150,000 to two men who were wrongfully accused in the high-profile 1989 murder of Carol Stuart — a case that shocked the nation and fanned racial tensions across the city.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s office authorized payments of $100,000 to Willie Bennett and $50,000 to Alan Swanson, documents obtained by Boston 25 News show.
Carol Stuart, a pregnant white woman, was shot and killed in what her husband, Charles “Chuck” Stuart, claimed was a carjacking by an armed Black man. The accusation led to a citywide manhunt and the wrongful targeting of Bennett and Swanson.
Months after Stuart was killed, it was revealed that Charles Stuart had orchestrated her murder.
Charles Stuart’s younger brother told investigators that Charles had murdered his wife in an attempt to collect life insurance money.
Charles Stuart later died by suicide.
Neither Swanson nor Bennett were formally charged with anything related to the case, but both men were publicly labeled as suspects in the notorious killing. Charles Stuart’s accusation also resulted in the harassment of Black men, in particular those living in the Mission Hill neighborhood, by city officials and the Boston Police Department.
“This dark time in the City’s history exacerbated distrust between Boston’s Black community and the Boston Police Department,” Wu said at the time. “Acknowledging this painful moment and apologizing for the City’s wrongdoing is an effort to aid in the healing of those still living with this trauma and our City as a whole.”
British artist Morrissey has canceled two New England concerts, including Saturday’s in Boston, after he received a death threat before a show in Canada.
According to Ottawa Police, a 26-year-old Ottawa man made a threat online before Morrissey’s performance at a music festival in the city. The 26-year-old has since been charged after the threat was reported and police said the investigation is ongoing.
Morrissey was set to perform at Boston’s MGM Music Hall on Saturday. In ahttps://www.instagram.com/p/DOyglc1EUlX/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheetstatement on their Instagram, the venue said, a “credible threat” was made on his life. “Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of both the artist and the band, tomorrow engagement at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway has been canceled,” the statement continued.
On Morrissey’s Instagram, he posted a similar statement and said all tickets will be refunded at point of purchase for both shows.
British singer Morrissey (Steven Patrick Morrissey) performs at the Cavea of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in July.
Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
The other show that was canceled was supposed to take place Friday at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. His next show is scheduled for Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Morrissey, whose real name is Steven Morrissey, is the former lead singer of the British rock band The Smiths. They’re best known for songs like “How Soon is Now?,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.” He left the band in 1987 and has since embarked on a solo career.
MGM Music Hall is located next door to Fenway Park. Upcoming shows at the venue include Elvis Costello, Chance the Rapper and DOECHII.
Victoria D. is a digital producer for CBS Boston. Before joining CBS Boston in 2023, Victoria had already worked in journalism in both New York and Boston for more than 10 years.
Two Morrissey shows in New England – one at the MGM Musical Hall in Boston and another at Foxwoods casino – is canceled this weekend over death threats against the singer, according to the venues.
Saturday’s show at MGM Musical Hall at Fenway is canceled, according to an Instagram post by the venue, which said the decision was made over a “credible threat on Morrissey’s life.”
Three people had money stolen outside popular Boston stores from a group of men claiming to be collecting donations, Boston police said Thursday, asking for help identifying the fraudsters.
In each of the incidents, two on Saturday and one on Wednesday, three men approached someone and pressured them into giving money by credit card over a tragedy in the family, according to police reports. While they indicated they were charging a small amount of money, $5 or $15, they ended up charging thousands.
The instances of fraud allegedly took place at a South End Whole Foods and a South Boston Walgreens Saturday, and the same Walgreens on Wednesday, according to police.
In the case of the Walgreens incident, reported as a robbery, the men wouldn’t accept her saying “no,” then grabbed her phone and replied to an authorization message from her credit card company to OK a $4,000 payment.
One of the men police are looking for was reported to have a tattoo that reads “Red” above his left eyebrow, officials said, asking for anyone with information to contact them.
The incident happened around 1 p.m. on Sept. 8 at a bus stop on Warren Street in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Video shows the victim being knocked down the stairs of the bus, flying out the front door and landing on the sidewalk.
According to witnesses, the victim fell to the pavement and remained on the ground for about 10 minutes before receiving medical attention. Paramedics arrived on the scene and transported her by ambulance to an area hospital.
Prosecutors say Luz Pineda, 32, got into an argument with the victim because the woman was blocking the exit of the bus while Pineda was trying to get off with her 3-month-old daughter. Pushing for a $10,000 cash bail, prosecutors claimed that Pineda put her hair up and took her sweatshirt off after exiting the bus in an effort to change her appearance. They further stated that Pineda had a probation history, though her attorney argued that the last issue with that was more than seven years ago.
Her attorney said Pineda was returning from a medical appointment for her daughter and stressed that she lives alone with her two children.
The judge set bail at $5,000, with conditions that Pineda stay away from the victim, any MBTA property, and any witnesses. The next court date was set for Oct. 3.
Earlier this week, neighbors and other passengers reacted with outrage about what happened.
“She could have killed her. She could have, like, beaten her so badly that she suffered a serious injury. I think it’s outrageous and very irresponsible. I think the quality of human life is being lost,” Nicole López, an MBTA passenger, told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra.
“I honestly think it’s a bad thing… It’s wrong for them to do that. We need to tell them not to do that because it’s truly not right,” commented Rufino Medrano, another passenger.
“There’s no need to mistreat anyone, especially an elderly person, whom we should respect. They want to attack the first person they see, but it makes you feel bad. You see elderly people being mistreated and it’s not their fault. You just have to ask the world for peace,” said another passenger who did not want their name used.
The suspect in the attack was captured on security cameras inside the bus.
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Thea DiGiammerino, David De Matteis and Mike Pescaro
Searching for a home in Boston? The Boston housing market is very competitive, with homes usually receiving three offers and selling in around 25 days. July 2025’s median sale price was $825,000, holding steady year-over-year, with a median price per square foot of $707, down 0.42% from last year. From historic brownstones to modern condos near the T, here are Boston’s 50 newest listings to hit the market.
A Delta Air Lines flight departing Miami International Airport on Saturday returned safely to the airport shortly after takeoff, following a reported bird strike that forced the plane to make an emergency landing, according to the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration.
There were no injuries.
The flight, DL1300, was heading to Boston Logan Internal Airport when birds seemingly struck one of the aircraft’s two engines, a Delta Air Lines spokesperson said in an email to CBS News.
The plane eventually took off again and arrived in Boston approximately two hours after it was originally scheduled to land, according to the spokesperson.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the spokesperson said.
How bird strikes affect aviation safety is a growing concern for officials at the FAA, who reported a 14% increase in incidents where planes collided with wildlife between 2023 and 2024. According to an FAA database that tracks such incidents, more than 8,000 wildlife strikes have impacted flights since the start of 2025.
Gabe Whisnant is a Breaking News Editor at Newsweek based in North Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed daily publications in North and South Carolina. As an executive editor, Gabe led award-winning coverage of Charleston church shooter Dylan Roof’s capture in 2015, along with coverage of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. You can get in touch with Gabe by emailing g.whisnant@newsweek.com. Find him on Twitter @GabeWhisnant.
🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A report of shots fired at the University of Massachusetts Boston on Thursday afternoon prompted a heavy police response and campus lockdown, authorities reported.
The incident was reported around 3:45 p.m. near 240 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, close to a residence hall in the East Building, according to WCVB in Boston.
UMass Boston issued alerts calling it a “public safety threat” and urged people to avoid the area and the Campus Center. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.
This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.
Boston Mayor Wu will face Josh Kraft in November election
BOSTON (AP/Boston 25) — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a frequent target of the Trump administration, advanced in Tuesday’s preliminary election and will face Josh Kraft, the son of the Patriots owner, in November.
Wu, the city’s first Asian and female leader, has been bolstered in part by her defense of the city against attacks from the Trump administration. Members of the administration, often led by President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, have accused the city of not doing enough to crack down on illegal immigration and threatened a surge in arrests. Boston is commonly known as a sanctuary city, and Wu has repeatedly said she wants it to be a welcoming place for immigrants.
Just last week, Trump’s U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Wu, the city of Boston, and its police department over its sanctuary city policies, claiming they’re interfering with immigration enforcement. In response, Wu accused Trump of “attacking cities to hide his administration’s failures.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security put out a statement announcing the arrests of seven people as part of a crackdown in Massachusetts.
“Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but protect them at the peril of law-abiding American citizens,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Speaking to her cheering supporters Tuesday night, Wu repeatedly took aim at Trump as well as Kraft and said the results showed that Boston “was not for sale” and that the mayor should answer to the “people of Boston, not a handful of billionaire donors.”
“The next eight weeks are about the remaining two names on the ballot. It’s a test of who we are. It’s a test of whether we believe in our city as a place of possibility and promise, whether Boston will keep going as a home for everyone,” she said. “It’s a test of whether Boston can still be that beacon of freedom, whether 250 years later, with tyranny again at our door, whether Boston still got it.”
Kraft, a fellow Democrat and a nonprofit leader, injected millions of his own personal money into his campaign and set records for spending in a Boston mayoral preliminary election. He has also been critical of Trump’s attacks and has pushed Wu particularly hard on housing, saying she hasn’t done enough to increase options and affordability in Boston.
Speaking to Ironworkers Local 7 in South Boston, Kraft said he was running because residents deserved to have a mayor “who listened to them” and would “deliver better streets, better schools, and a better future for them today.” He argued Wu was talking about Trump to distract from her record.
“I got into this fight because every day, I heard that too many people across Boston felt like that they don’t have a seat at the table,” he told supporters. “This campaign has never been about chasing headlines or currying favor with the political chattering class. It’s been about listening.”
Wu and Kraft bested two other candidates in the preliminary election: former school district committee member and veteran Robert Cappucci and community activist Domingos Darosa.
Wu highlights housing, crime and climate change
While visiting polls Tuesday, Wu said the Trump administration is targeting Boston because it “represents all that is good about our democracy.”
“We are proof of what’s possible when people come together, and we’re proof of everything that shows why they are wrong,” she said.
Wu, who often works with her infant daughter at her side, has also benefited from widespread support on the City Council and a string of endorsements from Democratic leaders. She also has used the pulpit of her position to highlight her successes around housing, combating climate change and reducing crime, rolling out a series of initiatives all summer.
David Woodruff, a retired research support specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was supporting Wu because he wants “people who are progressive and are strengthening democracy” in office.
“I like the way she stands up to Trump, I like what she’s been doing on the national scene,” he said.
Kraft struggles to find message that resonates with voters
Kraft, who heads the Kraft Family Philanthropies and the New England Patriots Foundation, has targeted everything from bike paths to the cost of living in the city to his concerns about homelessness and drug addiction in one section of the city known as Mass and Cass.
Last week, Kraft and two top campaign advisers “mutually parted ways,” according to a statement from his campaign.
As of the end of August, Kraft had outspent Wu, $5.5 million to about $1.1 million, thanks in large part to more than $5 million in loans from the candidate to his campaign. Wu entered the final days of the campaign with much more cash in the bank, $2.4 million to about $1.3 million for Kraft.
Jeffrey Berry, a Boston political analyst and professor emeritus at Tufts University, said money is good for creating name recognition, but it’s not enough on its own to win an election. He said Wu has become a “symbol of democratic resistance to the president,” and that will be hard for Kraft to overcome in a city like Boston.
Kraft has switched between attacking Wu and portraying himself as someone who wants to bring positive change to the city.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Kraft said his conversations with voters indicate to him that Wu doesn’t have as strong a grip on the mayor’s seat as some might think.
“Everywhere we go, myself, our team, throughout the neighborhoods of this city — regardless of race, socioeconomics, ethnicity, language — we hear the same thing: People don’t feel listened to, people don’t feel connected to the mayor and the mayoral administration,” he said. “Some of the polls have a big margin, but let me tell you something: Polls don’t decide elections. People decide elections.”
Kraft supporter Remy Lawrence said she’s been impressed by his commitment to Boston’s young people. Kraft was CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston and worked with the organization for decades. Lawrence said Kraft personally reached out to her after her 13-year-old son, Tyler, who participated in Kraft family youth programming, was murdered by a gunman in 2023 while walking near his grandparents’ home in the Mattapan neighborhood.
“I believe we need change in this city – I know we need change in this city,” she said. “We need a leader who is accessible, who’s accountable, who’s connected.”
New bike lanes at South Shore state park prompts warning from cyclists: ‘They’re hurting people’
Newly implemented speedbumps in Wompatuck State Park are causing concern for bikers — citing multiple injuries as a result of the safety measures.
Bikers and pedestrians in the area told Boston 25 Tuesday the speed bumps were installed in July on Union Street.
“I think they’re horrible,” said experienced biker Chris Lyons. “I think they’re dangerous… A few people have already gone away in ambulances.”
Lyons and others said three yellow speed bumps were put in across Union Street this summer. They say the second is the most dangerous to bikers.
He added, “If you didn’t know what you were doing and you were coming down the street on them, you’d probably get hurt on it.”
The second speed bump is at the intersection of Union Street and South Pleasant Street.
“One guy shattered his knee or something,” said Leif Thornton Tuesday at Wompatuck State Park. “Another woman, I guess, got scrapes on her face and elbows.”
Brian Lamb, a Hingham resident, said he and his wife were walking in the park Saturday when they found a woman injured and laying on the ground next to her bike 15 feet away from the second speed bump.
“She hit the speed bump on her bike and was knocked unconscious,” he said. “We heard sirens soon after.”
Lamb said that woman was rushed to the hospital with injuries.
Hingham Firefighters Local 2398 shared a picture of their emergency response at the intersection of Union Street and South Pleasant Street Saturday.
They wrote partly in the post, “There have been a few incidents in this area recently and we advise everyone to be aware of the new speed bump at this location!”
Bikers said the lack of signage near the speedbumps makes them look like crosswalks.
“It looks like a crosswalk and it looks flat,” said Thornton.
Signs were flashing warning park-goers of the speed bumps at the park’s entrance Tuesday.
The park is overseen by Massachusetts State Police and DCR. Neither had anything official to offer Tuesday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to make major arrests of illegal immigrants in Boston under “Operation Patriot 2.0.”
The Boston area has become a primary focus of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, along with other cities such as Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles. The news of the arrests comes as the preliminary elections in the Boston mayoral race are on Tuesday night.
Both Mayor Michelle Wu and likely general election opponent, fellow Democrat and son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Josh Kraft, are critics of the administration’s immigration tactics.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is facing criticism for recent comments she made about ICE agents.(Matt Stone/Boston Herald/Getty Images)
“On September 6, ICE launched ‘Patriot 2.0’ to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens living in the state of Massachusetts, following the success of Operation Patriot in May,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.
“Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but protect them at the peril of law-abiding American citizens. ICE is arresting rapists, child abusers, drug traffickers, and other violent thugs,” McLaughlin continued.
Last week, the Department of Justice announced that Wu and the city of Boston are getting sued over the city’s sanctuary policies.
Samuel Armando Barrera-Hernandez was arrested in Boston by ICE in September 2025 for pending assault and battery charges against a minor.(Department of Homeland Security)
Some of the arrests include Victor Gomez-Perez, who’s in the country illegally from Guatemala, on charges of aggravated rape, along with varying types of assault and battery, including on a cop. In addition, he has a prior assault conviction.
Kely Yohana Espinosa-Viana, a Colombian national, is facing charges for aggravated assault against a pregnant woman. Dominican national Brahian Valdez-Placencia is facing pending charges for “armed robbery,” strangling, assault and battery and not following a court order.
Another Dominican national, Joshua Gonzalez Baez, has charges pending for allegedly trafficking hard drugs, “resisting” an officer, distributing drugs, and “disorderly conduct.”
Joshua Gonzalez Baez was arrested by ICE in Boston in September 2025 for alleged drug trafficking, drug distribution, resisting an officer, and disorderly conduct charges.(Department of Homeland Security)
Samuel Armando Barrera-Hernandez, a Guatemalan national, is facing pending charges for alleged assault and battery against a minor.
Noe Feliciano Garcia-Majia, who is from Guatemala, has prior arrests for alleged strangling or suffocation, and different types of assault and battery. Paulo Lima Borges, who’s in the country illegally from Cape Verde, was previously convicted of possessing cocaine and heroin with the goal of distributing it.
All of the arrests occurred this past weekend, as the original “Operation Patriot” in May resulted in roughly 1,500 arrests by ICE.
“As ordered in the Boston Trust Act, no Boston police or local resources will be co-opted into federal immigration enforcement and their mass deportation agenda,” Wu said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“For months, ICE has refused to provide any information about their activities in Boston and refuses to issue warrants, while we hear reports of ICE agents taking parents as they are dropping their kids off at school. That does not make our community safer. We expect that federal law enforcement will abide by the constitution and laws of this City, Commonwealth, and country, and we are prepared to take legal action at any evidence to the contrary,” the mayor continued.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser.
Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Arcand@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cameron_arcand
A person was shot in Dorchester on Tuesday afternoon, Boston police said.
Few details were immediately available as police began investigating the shooting on Bowdoin Street near Olney Street. No arrests had been made, according to police.
They didn’t have the condition of the person who was wounded in the shooting.
Officers were seen examining the area near the nearby intersection of Bowdoin and Topliff streets.
This is a developing news story that will be updated.
Looking for historic charm and walkable neighborhoods in Boston? The Boston housing market is very competitive, with homes typically receiving three offers and selling in about 25 days. July 2025’s median sale price hit $825,000, holding steady year-over-year, while the median price per square foot clocked in at $706, down slightly by 0.56%. Whether you’re after a classic brownstone near the T or a cozy condo steps from cafés and parks, here are Boston’s 50 newest listings—ready for walk-throughs and offers.
(CNN) — Immigration enforcement operations are ramping up in Chicago and Boston, marking the latest escalation between the Trump administration and Democratic-led cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced “Operation Midway Blitz” aimed at targeting “criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor (JB) Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets.”
The heightened rhetoric from President Donald Trump and his top officials aligns with how the White House plans to push forward its aggressive agenda aimed at undocumented immigrants. Ongoing arrests in Chicago are expected to expand as a federal presence builds up in a weeks-long, phased approach, according to officials familiar with the plans who stressed it’s still in flux.
Operations in Boston and Chicago are modeled after the June immigrationsweeps in Los Angeles that the Supreme Court ruled Monday can continue under certain circumstances. The Homeland Security official charged with immigration operations in Los Angeles, Gregory Bovino, was deployed to Chicago to do the same there, officials told CNN, with one describing Chicago as “Los Angeles on the road.”
The escalating actions also follow a massive raid last week at a Hyundai plant in Georgia that, while not in a sanctuary city, previews forthcoming worksite operations, border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday.
In tandem with those moves, more Democratic-led cities also are bracing for the Trump administration to decide — “over the next day or two,” the president said Sunday — where to further deploy National Guard troops to crack down on violent crime, a purported problem the White House sometimes has linked with immigration.
This image from video provided by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows a person being handcuffed at the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant in Ellabell, Georgia, on Thursday. Credit: Corey Bullard / AP via CNN Newsource
The Department of Homeland Security on Sunday blamed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for sanctuary polices that “not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens.” Crossing the border or overstaying a visa and being undocumented in the United States generally is a civil infraction, not a criminal one.
Calling up the National Guard is “always on the table” for Chicago, Homan told CNN, even after a federal judge last week ruled Trump broke federal law by using the US military to help with law enforcement activities in and around Los Angeles — while use of the guard in Washington, DC, is unlike anywhere else.
“We used them in Los Angeles, and we use them in Washington, DC,” Homan said. “They’re a force multiplier.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, said in a statement Monday that such enforcement won’t make people feel safer.
“They are a waste of money, stoke fear, and represent another failed attempt at a distraction,” he said.
Cities push back against Trump threats
In Washington, DC, where more than 2,200 armed National Guard troops have roamed for weeks, officials are suing the Trump administration, accusing the president of violating the Constitution and federal law by sending soldiers into the city without consent from local leaders.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by DC’s attorney general, claims the troops — many from out of state — have been deputized by the US Marshals office and are patrolling neighborhoods, conducting searches and making arrests, despite federal laws that generally bar the military from acting as local police.
The Trump administration has touted its efforts in the capital city, pointing to a sharp drop in violent crime since ramping up federal law enforcement last month. But critics argue the National Guard deployment is unnecessary and costly, with taxpayers footing an estimated $1 million a day, while troops take photos with tourists, pick up trash and lay mulch.
Members of the National Guard patrol inside the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on August 28. Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Trump has also repeatedly slammed nearby Baltimore for its crime, calling the city a “hellhole” and suggesting the National Guard could be deployed there next.
“We don’t need an occupation,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CNN’s Manu Raju on Sunday. Scott said he’d explore all options when asked whether he would sign an order like Chicago’s that tells local police not to cooperate with federal law enforcement should they be deployed.
On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters Chicago is a “very dangerous place,” adding to anticipation of troops there. The president said he could “solve Chicago very quickly,” but stopped short of committing to deploy the guard.
The next morning, he lashed out at Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, questioning the Democrat’s supposed aversion to federal intervention: “WHY??? … Only the Criminals will be hurt” by any federal efforts, Trump wrote on his social media platform, adding crime is “ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE!!!”
Pritzker denounced DHS operations in the state Monday, saying in a post on X that the operation “isn’t about fighting crime.”
“That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks,” he said, adding that the administration has chosen to focus “on scaring Illinoisians.”
The governor’s office has still not recieved any “formal communication or information” from the Trump administration and that they are often learning of operations through social media, said Matt Hill, spokesperson for Pritzker.
Seven people were killed in Chicago from Friday evening through Sunday, preliminary police figures show. At least six victims were men, ages 21 to 42.
Still, fatal shootings in the city are down 34.2% this year through September 6 compared with the same period in 2024, with 237 killed in 2025, mayor’s office data shows.
The Windy City has prepared for more than a week for looming National Guard deployments and Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, from the governor bracing for a court fight to parade planners postponing.
Fears gripped Chicago over the weekend
On the Lower West Side of Chicago, the start of Mexican Independence Day celebrations typically marks a raucous weekend of parties and parades drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees. While some crowds did gather Saturday waving green, white and red flags in the predominantly Latino Pilsen neighborhood, an undercurrent of caution persisted.
As costumed performers and children with baskets of treats paraded through the community, bright orange whistles swung from their necks, each one ready to cut through the music should federal immigration agents appear.
Keilina Zamora prepares to participate in the Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Saturday. Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images via CNN NewsourcePeople watch the Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Saturday. Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Elsewhere, celebrations were muted.
In Wauconda, a village northwest of Chicago, the annual Latino Heritage Festival was canceled due in part to “immigration concerns in our area,” the Wauconda Police Department said in a Friday social media post.
One of the largest events of the Fiestas Patrias, the parade for the Mexican Independence Day in Waukegan, has been postponed for the first time in its 30-year history to November 1 from September 14. The festival is celebrated every year in the suburb along Lake Michigan just north of the Great Lakes naval base, the facility Gov. JB Pritzker said Trump is set to use as a command center for incoming immigration agents.
Communities throughout the nation’s third-largest city are preparing for ICE presence by handing out flyers reminding families they have the right in the face of immigration enforcement to remain silent and don’t have to consent to be searched or share their birthplace or citizenship status, among other rights.
In Pilsen, neighbors gathered this weekend to celebrate Latino culture, choosing joy despite fear: “I think now more than ever is when we need to demonstrate that we are united and we are a community,” longtime resident Araceli Lucio said.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Alison Main, Samantha Waldenberg, Lily Hautau, Chris Boyette and Gabe Cohen contributed to this report.
BOSTON — More than 90,000 housing units have been completed or entered development since Gov. Maura Healey took office, she said Wednesday, chipping away at the state’s estimated need for 220,000 homes by the end of the decade.
Of the 90,400 units cited by Healey’s office, about 63,100 have been built and added to the state’s supply. Another 18,300 are under construction, 3,600 have secured state funding through the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and 5,400 are privately financed proposals still in the pipeline.
Despite the progress, Massachusetts still lags much of the country in housing production.
An estimated 14,338 building permits were issued in Massachusetts in 2024, or 201 per 100,000 residents — the sixth-lowest rate in the nation. The national average was 281 per 100,000, according to an analysis by U.S. Data Labs, a platform developed by the Pioneer Institute providing state-level data on policy areas.
By comparison, Maine issued 6,034 permits in 2024, or 429 per 100,000 residents. Vermont and New Hampshire also outpaced Massachusetts per capita, at 409 and 352 permits per 100,000 residents. In southern New England, permit rates were generally lower. Nationally, Idaho led with about 881 permits per 100,000 people, while Texas authorized the most permits overall at more than 225,756.
Healey first highlighted the 90,354-unit figure in August on the anniversary of last summer’s housing bond law, which she said laid important groundwork for boosting supply. That number includes all homes completed, permitted, awarded or proposed since Healey took office.
The housing law required cities and towns to allow accessory dwelling units, set up a $50 million “Momentum Fund” for stalled mixed-income projects and expanded financing tools for affordable and moderate-income housing.
A breakdown provided by the administration shows only a portion of the total comes directly from that bond law. The Momentum Fund accounts for 461 units, while another 732 permits are tied to accessory dwelling units.
Other programs include 1,525 units through the Housing Development Incentive Program — which was expanded in the 2024 housing law — and 10,566 from projects funded by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Zoning mandates tied to older state laws also play a role: the MBTA Communities law accounts for about 5,200 units, and Chapter 40B for 8,360.
The majority, however — more than two-thirds, or 63,510 units — falls under what the administration categorizes as “additional housing development” outside state-directed programs.
“I’m focused every day on building more housing,” Healey said at a Bloomberg event in Boston on Wednesday.
She continued, “Through tax credits for developers, changes to the law to make accessory dwelling units available by right, mill-to-housing conversions, office-to-housing conversions, and surplus state land, we’re making real progress. We started with a deficit of 220,000, and a year and a half in, we now have over 90,000 housing starts underway.”
The U.S. Data Labs report also found Massachusetts ranks near the top in the value of new housing permitted. The average estimated value per permit here was $284,086, second only to Hawaii at $342,910.
Gov. Maura Healey lashed out against the Trump administration in an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday, saying expanded ICE activity in Massachusetts and other states “insane,” and “not right.”
In her MSNBC appearance, Healey said she hasn’t heard from the White House about this latest ICE surge in her state.
“I’m a former prosecutor, a former attorney general. I’ve said many, many times, including to Trump, that I support as attorney general, and now as governor, everything we can do on public safety,” she said. “But what we have seen from ICE and the administration isn’t about public safety, it’s about political theater, about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate.”
“We’ve seen construction workers, nannies, landscapers, healthcare aids — these are the people being taken in huge numbers, taken away from their families. It is not the kind of effort Donald Trump has said it was about.”
“But again, this is about show, it’s a show of force, it’s political theater. The same reason you see the National Guard on streets in cities in America. It’s just not right. It’s not helpful to public safety. It undermines the efforts of local law enforcement and it’s taking guardspeople with really important missions away from those missions, all to be part of some political theater… It’s just not right what’s happening across America right now.”
“The post that the president put out last night bragging about some Chicago apocalypse, it’s just insane. It’s not normal. It’s not right,” Healey said. “It is wrong and if you care about public safety you work with local officials, you work with state officials, you support and fund local law enforcement. That’s really what you need to do.”
ICE officials and Massachusetts leaders traded barbs about immigration policy Monday.
Wu released a statement to NBC10 Boston on Saturday night addressing the latest operation in the area, saying, “For months, the Trump DOJ, DHS, and ICE have been spreading blatant lies and threatening to ‘bring hell’ to cities like Boston who refuse to bow down to their authoritarian agenda, so this unconstitutional attack is not a surprise.”
“This country was born facing down bullies, with Bostonians leading the way,” Wu continued. “Today Boston is the safest major city in the country because we have worked to build trust in the community, so that everyone feels safe seeking help or reporting a crime. We will not be bullied or intimidated into abandoning the efforts that make Boston a safe home for everyone.”
A Brazilian man who’d been living in Clinton, Mass., under DACA is back with his daughters after being released from months in ICE custody in Texas, fearing he’d be deported and separated from the girls, who have health issues.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many federal agents were taking part in Operation Patriot 2.0, or what Massachusetts communities the operation was being conducted in. The New York Times, citing sources, reported that the operation was expected to last several weeks; the DHS spokesperson’s statement didn’t address how long Patriot 2.0 would take.
ICE agents were seen in the town of Clinton on Friday morning.
It was early 2024 when the then-new director of Boston’s Office of Nightlife Economy, Corean Reynolds, floated an idea that seemed both weird and intriguing: inflatable nightclubs.
During an interview with the Boston Business Journal shortly after she was named to head up the new office in Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration, Reynolds said that a “blow-up nightclub” — a giant bouncy house that could host events like a kids karaoke night — would soon be available to hold block parties and community events.
BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is pushing back on suggestions from the Trump administration that it might take over Boston’s South Street station from the state’s public transit agency.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Transportation Steven Bradbury floated the idea during an event at the station Wednesday as Amtrak was unveiling its new, faster Acela trains.
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Amtrak’s NextGen Acela high-speed train is now racing passengers between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., hitting top speeds of 160 miles per hour. Kris Van Cleave was on board this week for the train’s inaugural run.
