In a time of general instability, it’s the most chaotic subplot in local politics. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson claims he was attacked by immigrants who are in the US illegally on May 1, after they refused to get tested for COVID-19. The detainees and their advocates say Hodgson and his deputies were the aggressors. Meanwhile, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz was barred from entering the jail the day after the riot; multiple investigations are now underway; and a class-action lawsuit alleging dangerous conditions at the facility is working its way through court.
Adam Reilly talks with Chang-Diaz and Sarah Betancourt, who’s been covering the story for Commonwealth magazine, about the incident and its aftermath. But first, Peter Kadzis weighs in on a new Suffolk University / WGBH News / Boston Globe poll that shows Massachusetts residents committed to the ongoing fight against the coronavirus, even as economic pain mounts.
