Vigil Organizers Claim MA Teen Was Lynched: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, May 3. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Massachusetts is closing four of the state's seven mass vaccination sites by June, including sites in Danvers, Foxborough, Natick and at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
• Tufts University in Medford is investigating two incidents of racial hate reported on campus last week.
• Helicopters started dropping oral rabies vaccine baits in southeastern Massachusetts and on Cape Cod Monday.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Organizers of a rally and vigil scheduled for Thursday say a 16-year-old girl was beaten and lynched in Hopkinton last month.

The rally's organizers include former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson and Violence in Boston, a nonprofit. Mikayla Miller,16, died sometime over the weekend of April 17 in Hopkinton. But police and the Middlesex District Attorney's office are offering few details in the case.

"Mikayla was Racially beaten up and LYNCHED in YOUR community Hopkinton!! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!!" organizers said in a Facebook post about Thursday's vigil, which starts at 4:30. "We are here today to demand JUSTICE for Mikayla."

On Sunday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan issued a statement saying her office was waiting for an autopsy and a cause of death from the state medical examiner.

"The death of Mikayla Miller is a tragedy and an unimaginable loss for her family and the entire community," Ryan said. "We know that everyone mourning her is seeking answers."

Read the full story.

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Monday's Other Top Stories

State closing mass vaccination sites: Massachusetts is closing four of the state's seven mass vaccination sites by June, including sites in Danvers, Foxborough, Natick and at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Gov. Charlie Baker said Massachusetts is outpacing the rest of the country by "leaps and bounds" in COVID-19 vaccinations and will hit its goal of vaccinating 4.1 million people within weeks. About 1.2 million of those doses have been administered at the mass vaccination sites.

A different kind of vaccination effort: Helicopters started dropping oral rabies vaccine baits in southeastern Massachusetts and on Cape Cod Monday. The Cape Cod & Southeast Massachusetts Rabies Task Force is planing to drop 68,000 baits through May 8. Although the baits are not typically harmful to people or pets, residents are asked to obey leash laws and call 877-722-6725 if a bait is found.

Hate incidents on campus: Tufts University in Medford is investigating two incidents of racial hate reported on campus last week. In the first incident, several Asian students were walking along Professors Row when they were "verbally assaulted with hateful anti-Asian rhetoric from the occupants of a passing vehicle." Members of a Tufts sports team also found a large swastika painted on the Bello Field shed, according to a letter from President Tony Monaco to the campus community.

Learn more about getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts at Patch's information hub.

They Said It

"This is blatant union busting, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association will not tolerate what is happening in Falmouth. Union educators in Falmouth, like their colleagues across the state, have been advocating for safe working and learning conditions. The district's unwillingness to bargain and then to concoct a campaign designed to intimidate educators and create a chilling effect is despicable and unacceptable."

• Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which plans to rally in Falmouth Tuesday.

By The Numbers

70: The number of drivers and mechanics for Shaw's and Star Market who went on strike Monday. The drivers have not had a contract since October.