Union president says Worcester officers "acted totally appropriately" during ICE arrest of mother
The President of the Worcester Police Patrolmen's Union says his officers had a measured and restrained response to the crowd that formed while ICE arrested a Brazilian mother on May 8.
"The video shows that our officers acted totally appropriately in a very difficult, chaotic situation," Union President Thomas Duffy said.
The city released police body camera footage of the incident on the Friday after protests erupted in response to the woman's arrest, and some city officials condemned the behavior of federal officers and Worcester Police.
According to dispatch audio, Worcester Police were called to the scene on Eureka Street by ICE agents who said they were being surrounded by a crowd.
The body camera footage starts with officers arriving after ICE agents had already had 40-year-old Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira in custody inside a nearby vehicle.
Active city councilor at ICE arrest
The footage shows a crowd of people around the ICE agents, including Ferreira de Oliveira's two daughters and Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj. Near the beginning of the footage, Haxhiaj is seen walking into a group of ICE officers and is pushed away by them.
"We had an active city councilor, Etel Haxhiaj, from District 5, who was inciting the crowd, physically touched our officers and federal agents on the scene," Duffy said.
At one point, Haxhiaj is seen with one of Ferreira de Oliveira's daughters, who was holding a baby next to the car where her mother was held.
"This is my constituent. No, please do not touch me," she told police as they tried to move both of them away from the vehicle.
The baby was also passed to the 17-year-old daughter of Ferreira de Oliveira while she was standing in front of the car. Worcester officers told the girl that she was endangering a child. Officers tried to move her away from the car. When the car with her mother inside started driving away, she ran after it, and Worcester police officers chased her, brought her to the ground, and took her into custody.
Police did not assist with arrest, union president says
Duffy says none of this was done to assist ICE with their arrest.
"We don't assist ICE, we were not working in connection with them during this incident, but as part of our oath, we will respond for the safety of any state, federal, local law enforcement agency who calls and needs assistance," he said.
Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said the videos were released to "illustrate the chaotic nature of the situation as experienced by the officers who had to make rapid, critical decisions in the moment to ensure the safety of everyone on the scene."
Worcester Police are now asking the court to drop charges against the 17-year-old.
Also on Friday, Worcester City Manager Eric Batista issued an Executive Order that reaffirmed guidelines for local response and involvement in federal enforcement of immigration laws and operations.
The order states that city workers and officers should not inquire or initiate investigations based on immigration status. The city said municipal employees should not participate in a federal agency's operation on immigration laws, "except in response to a request to assist with support services deemed necessary to ensure officer safety; to ensure public safety; to prevent a breach of the peace."
Elected officials from Acton, Chelsea, Waltham, and Worcester also signed a letter urging Governor Maura Healey to stop ICE in the state.
WBZ-TV reached out to Councilor Haxhiaj for comment, but did not receive a response.
