BOSTON — Send in the Guard.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn is calling on Massachusetts officials to open a "serious discussion" about deploying the Massachusetts National Guard on public-safety missions in Boston.
"I am calling for the establishment of a city, state and federal task force to address violent crime, drug dealing and human trafficking in Boston," Flynn wrote in a statement posted to X on Thursday. "I believe we should also have a serious discussion with MA officials about requesting public safety support from the National Guard!"
— Ed Flynn (@EdforBoston) July 23, 2026I am calling for the establishment of a city, state and federal task force to address violent crime, drug dealing and human trafficking in Boston. I believe we should also have a serious discussion with MA officials about requesting public safety support from the National Guard!
The councilor — a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, and a former President of the Boston City Council — is calling for a task force that would bring together city, state, and federal law enforcement on three named priorities: violent crime, drug dealing, and human trafficking. His secondary call — the National Guard — is a significant escalation from his previous public warnings about Wu-administration BPD staffing.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn speaks on the floor of the Boston City Council.
MASSDAILYNEWS
STAY UPDATED
Get Mass Daily News delivered to your inbox
ADVERTISEMENT · Interested in advertising?
ADVERTISEMENT · Interested in advertising?
The numbers Flynn is talking about
Since June, Boston has:
- Recorded a 5 a.m. Wednesday beating death at the Boylston Street T station — Ashlie Jeremie of Bedford is now charged with murder
- Left a Downtown Crossing shooter still on the loose from a 5 a.m. non-fatal shooting a week earlier, on the exact same day of the week and hour
- Erupted into a violent night that left 13 shot across five separate incidents
- Watched a gunman open fire on a Boston Police cruiser during a Blue Hill Avenue traffic stop
- Hit its fifth downtown shooting in a matter of weeks — the piece where Flynn first went public with his BPD-staffing warnings
Councilor Flynn on the floor of the Boston City Council.
ADVERTISEMENT · Interested in advertising?
ADVERTISEMENT · Interested in advertising?
Flynn represents District 2 — South Boston, downtown, Chinatown, and portions of the South End and Bay Village. It is the district absorbing most of the violence he is now calling on the National Guard to help contain.
The politics
Under Massachusetts law, only the Governor can activate the state's National Guard for a public-safety mission. That means Flynn's call runs directly to Governor Maura Healey's office. Healey has not publicly responded.
Mayor Michelle Wu's office also has not publicly responded to the National Guard call.
The Wu administration, according to Flynn and fellow Councilor Erin Murphy, has spent months minimizing the pattern of Downtown Boston violence Flynn is now trying to escalate.
Loading Comments