Boston official charged with extortion tied to music festival permits

A member of Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration was arrested on Thursday and charged with union-related extortion after he allegedly tried to withhold permits for a music festival using non-union workers, federal prosecutors said. Kenneth Brissette, director of the city’s office of tourism, sports and entertainment, was accused of repeatedly telling employees of the festival producer that they would not be allowed to stage their events unless they hired workers from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Events Local 11, according to court papers unsealed on Thursday. The papers do not name the company that was the target of the alleged extortion, which occurred in 2014.