News

Anime Boston Addresses Report of EMTs, Police at Dance

Emergency medical technicians and police officers were called to an event during the Anime Boston convention at the Back Bay Sheraton hotel during Easter weekend. According to the police, they confiscated less than an ounce of marijuana and removed a "clearly disturbed" 20-year-old man who had been "kicking and punching" emergency medical technicians, who had arrived to treat an unconscious woman. The hotel management were called before the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing on Wednesday.

Anime Boston Chair Lady Andrea M. Finnin issued the following statement on Thursday:

The New England Anime Society and Anime Boston are committed to providing a safe and entertaining convention for our members. We pride ourselves on the work that we do to ensure that fun can be had by all by providing a variety of programming options for all ages. One such example of this programming is our informal dances. This year, for the first time, we ran into some problems.

I assure you that we're actively working to ensure that next year's dance can be successful and safe for all attendees. We're discussing a variety of changes internally, including increasing the amount of onsite security and medical staff. On Friday, April 27, we'll be sitting down with the Sheraton to review our ideas. Be assured that we will work with both hotel management and city officials towards a solution that addresses this year's problems. As soon as a plan is finalized and approved by all of our partners, we'll post it on our website.

What actually happened is much less dire than rumors have indicated. Two events required response during Saturday night's dance. First, a medical emergency occurred; EMT's were called in to remove a dance attendee for treatment. Next, an alleged theft of a bag took place. Boston Police arrived and conducted their investigation on-site, and during their inquiry, marijuana was found. An arrest followed.

The dance was ultimately closed down due to perceived overcrowding issues. The hotel is addressing these concerns directly on behalf of Anime Boston to ensure that we don't have this sort of problem in the future.

We are working with both hotel and city management to ensure that Anime Boston can offer great programming for all of its attendees in the years to come. Please watch our web site, forums, Facebook and Twitter for more information as it develops.

Thanks to A B for the news tip.

Source: Boston Herald