- Boston’s Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu, 38, admitted to compiling the list – her press secretary said it came at the request from police over safety concerns
- Communications about the list will be aired in court after the attorney for accused gunman restauranteur Patrick Mendoza demanded to see them
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will be required to produce texts and emails about her so-called ‘enemies list’ and may even have to testify in court after the attorney for an accused gunman demanded to know why he was among those named.
The Democrat has been asked to hand over the evidence after a judge agreed to make it part of a discovery in a case against a North End restauranteur accused of firing a gun at a business rival, according to the Boston Herald.
Wu, 38, said last month that Boston Police Department had asked her to catalog the names of her most vocal critics in response to growing concerns for her safety.
The press secretary for Beantown’s first female mayor confirmed her administration sent a list of names to police after she was ‘harassed and physically intimidated by individuals for several months’ outside her home and at city events.
Now, the attorney for Patrick Mendoza – the restauranteur accused of shooting a man outside the Modern Pastry on July 12 – is demanding to know how he ended up on Wu’s enemies list, claiming it could aid his defense.
‘I want to know who generated the list, what it was intended for and why it was sent to the Boston Police Department,’ attorney Rosemary Scapicchio told the Boston Herald.
‘I’m trying to get the information because it could be exculpatory to my client.’
On Friday the judge accepted Scapicchio’s request, ruling that Wu’s administration will have to hand over any communications about the list.
The order also means Wu herself may have to testify in court under oath.
Mendoza is charged with assault to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidating a witness, and three counts relating to unlawful possession of a gun.
The 54-year-old Monica’s Trattoria owner is being held at the Nashua Street Jail after Boston Municipal Judge Paul Treseler considered him too dangerous to be granted bail, according to the Herald.
CCTV footage shows the moment a man on a bike, alleged to be Mendoza, coasts up to cars parked by the sidewalk while firing a handgun over his shoulder at a man wearing a baseball cap just feet away.
He shoots while on the bike, before getting off and walking towards the alleged victim, aiming the gun at his head.
The dangerous exchange took place on busy Hanover Street, in Boston’s North End.
As Mendoza’s case unfolded, Wu’s administration admitted to making an ‘enemies list’ after it was uncovered in an email unearthed in a public records request by her political opponents.
Her press secretary Ricardo Patron explained why the names were compiled.
‘The list was made in response to a request from the Boston Police Department after the Mayor had been harassed and physically intimidated by individuals for several months outside her home, at city functions such as the annual neighborhood parks coffee hours, and at other public events,’ he said in a statement.
‘The request came after many of the individuals on the list repeatedly impeded the Dorchester Day Parade to harass Mayor Wu and her family and staff, yelling through megaphones at her and her children for nearly ninety minutes as they marched in the parade despite being asked by parade organizers to leave the parade route.’
Notable names on the list of 15 people include several local restauranteurs who have sued Wu’s administration alleging that she’s biased against Italians and white people.
Shana Cottone, a former Boston police officer fired over her views against vaccine mandates, is also named, along with local city council candidate and vehement critic of the mayor Catherine Vitale.
Others on the list include several anti-vaccine activists who have protested at Wu’s home.
Revelations about the list prompted comparisons between Wu and disgraced former President Richard Nixon.
Nixon, a Republican, notoriously had an ‘enemies list’ during his presidency, one that included names for union execs, sitting Congressmen and even famously liberal actor Paul Newman.
Multiple lists were revealed during the investigation into the wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in 1972, along with the following cover up, finally led to his resignation.
Wu is the first female and non-white mayor in Boston. She was elected in 2021.
