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Feds say Everett ‘notified’ them of 13-year-old’s arrest as mayor denies city called ICE
The Department of Homeland Security said the boy has ties to a Brazilian crime ring and has racked up a string of charges in Massachusetts.
Everett officials and federal immigration authorities are continuing to point fingers as new details emerge in the controversial arrest of a 13-year-old Brazilian national.
The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the boy last week after local police “contacted federal law enforcement and notified them” the middle schooler had been arrested at a bus stop.
Speaking on an El Mundo Boston podcast Thursday, however, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria flatly rejected claims that the city collaborated with ICE.
“We did not call ICE,” he maintained.
Instead, the agency “immediately” sent Everett police a detainer after the boy’s fingerprints were entered into a nationwide database following his Oct. 9 arrest, DeMaria explained. The boy is now being held at the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Virginia.
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With the stated purpose of “setting the record straight,” the new DHS statement added further contention to a case that launched Everett into the national debate over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
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Earlier this week, DeMaria told reporters local police arrested the boy and recovered a large knife following a “credible tip” about a violent threat against another student. His description contradicted a previous statement from a top DHS official, who claimed the boy also had a gun on him when apprehended.
In its Thursday press release, DHS alleged the teen “showed a fellow student the handgun and said he was going ‘shoot and kill’ another student.” The release included an excerpt of an Oct. 9 Everett police report, which indicates a complaint was filed about a juvenile who “showed up after school with a gun.”
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DHS further alleged the boy has ties to a Brazilian criminal ring known as “gang 33” and is named in 11 prior Everett police complaints for a “laundry list of criminal behavior” that includes underage drinking, breaking and entering, vandalism, theft, fighting, and “‘flash mob’ style shoplifting.”
In May, the Middlesex County Juvenile Court arraigned the teen on charges of knowingly receiving stolen property, breaking and entering, and malicious destruction of property, according to DHS. He was arraigned again two months later on assault and battery charges while still on pretrial probation, the agency alleged.
“Here are the facts: this individual and suspected gang member posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet, including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, and destruction of property,” Assistant Secretary Tricia Mclaughlin said in a statement. “Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem, federal law enforcement is restoring commonsense and law-and-order to our streets. This public safety threat will stay in juvenile detention pending further proceedings.”
Speaking to El Mundo Boston, DeMaria acknowledged the boy is no stranger to local law enforcement, though he was adamant that “public safety and immigration are two separate issues.”
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“This young man unfortunately has a criminal history, a criminal past,” the mayor said. “He’s well known.”
DeMaria also told El Mundo the teen “caused us problems” at Everett’s Fourth of July festivities.
“He was going to go harm a young boy,” he said. “We’d be talking today about a 12-year-old boy who was murderd. Instead, we’re talking about a 13-year-old boy who’s in custody in Virginia.”
While he agreed the detention center in Virginia is “too far away” from the boy’s family, DeMaria argued the teen is “far enough away” from classmates at the Albert N. Parlin School, “where he could have harmed some serious kids.”
“And today, a lot of teachers and kids in that school feel a lot safer that he’s not there,” DeMaria added.
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