2 arrested at Boston courthouse brouhaha

Despite a chock-full session schedule, most of the action at Boston Municipal Court’s Dorchester courthouse was outside — leading to the arrest of two neighborhood men on Tuesday.

Boston Police rushed to the municipal court at 150 Washington St., a little before 10:30 a.m., when staff there made a call for help with what was becoming an unruly crowd just outside.

Officers arrived to a crowd large enough to spill into Washington Street and causing a traffic jam, according to the police report of the incident.

“Upon arrival Officers attempted to disperse the crowd and requested multiple times for the crowd to leave the area in front of the Dorchester District Court House,” responding police wrote in the report.

Police say the first person to really stand out was Avonte Taylor, 21 — whose surname is also listed as Teixeira-Taylor in the report — who was purportedly “waving his arms and escalating the situation.” He ignored all directions to leave the area, police say, and “persisted to be aggressive” so officers moved in to cuff him.

That’s when they say Michael Howard, 25, intervened and started “yelling and pushing several officers” as they attempted to arrest Taylor. He allegedly continued to “pull and push away” as police also cuffed him.

Both men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to the police report.

The police report does not indicate what instigated the allegedly heated crowd, but court records show 16 separate criminal arraignments taking place during the morning session of the court, and 41 further defendants with other hearings during the session. Also, there were eight criminal trials taking place.