Crash Victim’s Daughter ‘Livid’ Over Highway Protests

When Richard McGrath’s car hit a patch of black ice Thursday morning his car spun and crashed into a tree. The 83-year-old grandfather was left with life-threatening injuries including broken ribs and a fractured spine.

An ambulance attempted to take McGrath to Boston Medical Center which has a Level 1 trauma center. That ambulance had to be diverted to a smaller hospital after protesters connected with the Black Lives Matter movement shut down the I-93 highway.

Nadine McGrath, Richard’s daughter, had harsh words for the protesters who she believes endangered her father’s life. She tells the Boston Herald, “I understand your plight, but it’s moronic to put other people’s lives and public safety in jeopardy.” McGrath added, “I’m just so angry. I’m livid. You’re protesting police brutality and people losing their lives but you’re willing to take other people’s lives to prove a point? That just doesn’t make any sense.”

As Breitbart News reported Thursday, protesters connected to the Black Lives Matter movement blocked both sides of the I-93 highway south of Boston. Police were able to clear one side of the highway relatively quickly by dragging the protesters to the shoulder of the road. The other side of the highway was shut down for two hours because protesters had locked their arms inside metal oil drums full of cement.

Col. Tim Alben, head of the state police, said in a news conference about the incident, “People’s rights are people’s rights, but you are endangering lives with this type of conduct.”

Another critic of the activists was Pete Frates. Frates is an ALS patient who is credited with starting the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness of the disease as well as money for ALS research. Frates tweeted out his reaction to the highway shutdown:

.@TimAlben mentions unintended consequences. I have and will again need to be taken by ambulance to MGH. Today could’ve been a very bad day.

— Pete Frates (@PeteFrates3) January 15, 2015

Twenty-nine protesters were arrested for the stunt. They were arraigned and released without bail by Thursday afternoon. The protesters are due in court in February or April, depending on which part of the protest they engaged in.

Richard McGrath was transferred from Good Samaritan to Mass General Hospital. He remains in serious condition.