An adult child of U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts was arrested during a protest Saturday night on Boston Common and later charged with assault after a police officer was injured.

In a statement on its website, the Boston Police Department said Jared Dowell, 23, of Melrose, was expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court.

Clark, the House Democratic whip, said in a tweet that her daughter, Riley, had been arrested. �I love Riley, and this is a very difficult time in the cycle of joy and pain in parenting,� Clark wrote. �This will be evaluated by the legal system, and I am confident in that process.�

Clark has spoken publicly about the fears of her own nonbinary child amid bigotry targeting transgender people.

Police said officers responded to a report at the Parkman Bandstand Monument located within the Boston Common. They found a person, later identified as Dowell, defacing the monument with spray paint and anti-police phrases, according to police.

During the arrest, �a group of about 20 protesters began to surround officers while screaming profanities though megaphones on the public street causing traffic to come to a standstill,� police said, adding that �an officer was hit in the face and could be seen bleeding from the nose and mouth.�

Dowell was charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon, destruction or injury of personal property, and damage of property by graffiti/tagging, police said.

A fatal police shooting earlier this month in nearby Cambridge sparked protests over use of force. A 20-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Sayed Faisal, was shot and killed by Cambridge police. He had advanced on officers with what police described as a kukri, a type of sword, and a less-than-lethal �sponge round� had failed to stop him, police said.

Clark is in her sixth term in the House and represents the state�s 5th Congressional District.

(AP)