In Swampscott, activist's arrest gets push-back from community Public demands an investigation into what happened Leigh Blander / Correspondent Sign up for the Swampscott Reporter’s newsletter. Concerned citizens -- angered over the arrest of a Black civil rights activist at a recent Trump rally in Swampscott -- met with the town’s police chief, Ronald Madigan, on Friday Dec. 18, demanding an investigation into what led to the arrest. “We’re astonished that the police took these actions, which seem clearly racially driven,” said Swampscott resident Stephanie Tucker. “In all of the videos we’ve seen, it is not at all apparent that the gentleman punched anyone.”