Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Worcester city councilor pleads not guilty to assault during ICE arrest, while judge drops felony charge against other protester
Etel Haxhiaj greeted cheering supporters outside court Wednesday. The most serious charge against Ashley Spring, who was arrested during the ICE arrest, was dismissed.
The Worcester city councilor who was charged with assault and battery on a police officer after a chaotic standoff between residents and federal immigration agents in May pleaded not guilty in court Wednesday.
Etel Haxhiaj, Worcester’s District 5 city councilor, is facing a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with a police officer, Worcester District Court records show.
“As both a mother and an elected official, I will always stand up for my constituents, particularly women and children. That’s what I demonstrated on Eureka Street on May 8,” Haxhiaj, flanked by her family members and attorney, told cheering supporters outside the courthouse Wednesday. “I am resolute and unapologetic in maintaining my innocence.”
Advertisement:
Haxhiaj, who is an immigrant, is one of two people facing charges related to a tense scene where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira, a Brazilian national. Residents and neighbors confronted police, while Ferreira de Oliveira’s daughters cried and took turns holding a young infant, as seen in body camera footage released by the Worcester police.
More Local news
Ashley Spring was one of two people arrested on Eureka Street. Spring was facing a felony charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, but it was dismissed, court records show, after the prosecutor admitted there was insufficient evidence.
Advertisement:
Attorney Carlton Williams, Spring’s lawyer, said Spring is accused in court documents of “spraying” an officer with an unknown liquid from an infant’s baby bottle, which officers on scene determined was just water. Williams shared an image of an officer on the body camera footage smelling the water in the baby bottle.
“Baby bottles aren’t dangerous weapons,” Williams told Boston.com, noting it should have been clear to police there was no dangerous liquid in the baby bottle, which was “nearly full” after the alleged assault. “It’s half an ounce of water.”
“People are seeing very, very, very scary things going on a lot closer to home than we ever see them, and people are coming out of their houses, people are recording things with cell phones,” Williams said. “People are standing up against that.”
Also arrested was Ferreira de Oliveira’s teen daughter. Police later requested the charges, which included endangerment of a child and disturbing the peace, to be dismissed “given the totality of circumstances,” Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said previously.
Haxhiaj is seen in the body camera footage holding the teen girl before the girl was arrested, while the teen holds onto the sideview mirror of the vehicle where ICE put her mother. At another point, Haxhiaj tries to hold on to the teen girl while an ICE agent holds her against the hood of a vehicle.
Advertisement:
“You are hurting her,” Haxhiaj says before hitting the back of the agent’s elbow. The agent does not turn around.
Dozens of supporters were at the courthouse Wednesday for Haxhiaj’s arraignment, and supporters gathered for Spring as well, Williams said.
“The overwhelming number of Worcester residents and Americans across the country are opposed to armed, masked men snatching our people off our streets and neighborhoods,” Haxhiaj said. “While it is disappointing and disheartening to invest time, effort, and resources fighting these charges, it is absolutely nothing compared to Worcester families living in fear of being torn apart.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com