Etel Haxhiaj, a city councilor from Worcester, Massachusetts, is facing legal challenges following an earlier protest and interruption involving federal immigration officers. She is scheduled for a court appearance on Wednesday. Her arraignment at the Worcester District Court is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. To circumvent potential bias, the case is to be managed by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, as requested by the District Attorney’s office of Worcester.
Haxhiaj was one of 31 individuals involved in an incident with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on May 8th on Eureka Street, during which 40-year-old Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira from Brazil was arrested. These events were captured on the body cameras of the Worcester police officers present at the scene. The video footage depicts Haxhiaj walking towards the ICE agents who just finished arresting Ferreira-De Oliveira.
In the captured video, Councilor Haxhiaj can be seen grabbing Ferreira-De Oliveira’s arm and vehemently entreating the ICE agents to not apprehend her. The ICE agents then forcefully detached the councilor from Ferreira-De Oliveira. As the agents were transferring to a gold Ford SUV, Haxhiaj again made an attempt to reach Ferreira-De Oliveira.
The footage continues with Officer Patrick Hanlon seizing her hands in an attempt to restrain her, advising her to cease her actions. Haxhiaj’s intrepid response was a loud proclamation, ‘I cannot stop!’. The video taken from officer Shauna McGuirk’s body camera shows Haxhiaj and Ferreira-De Oliveria’s daughter, Augusta Clara Moura, located by the passenger side of the vehicle.
In this segment of the video, agents and Officer McGuirk can be seen instructing the pair to distance themselves from the vehicle. McGuirk further attempts to lead Clara Moura away by taking her arm, to which Clara Moura responds with a series of firm ‘no’s. Seeing this, the officer releases Clara Moura’s arm. An agent subsequently cautioned Clara Moura and Haxhiaj that they could potentially be liable to legal charges.
Uncomprehending, Haxhiaj stated, ‘I don’t understand,’ and informed McGuirk that she was within her rights as the councilor of her district to be present. Attempting to move her away from the situation, McGuirk then pulled on Haxhiaj’s back which resulted in inadvertent physical contact with the officer. As this occurred, Haxhiaj loudly objected, exclaiming ‘Do not touch me!’ while being drawn away from the vehicle.
Several days after the events involving the ICE agents, Worcester police lodged a criminal complaint against Councilor Haxhiaj. In his application, Police Lt. John Bossolt sought a show-cause hearing on three charges against Haxhiaj. He requested that Haxhiaj be arraigned on two counts of assault and battery on a police officer and a single count of hindrance of a police officer.
The police report detailed that ‘Haxhiaj pushed P.O. McGuirk in the chest,’ and further added, ‘Haxhiaj pulled P.O. McGuirk’s arm as she was executing an arrest.’ Subsequently, on June 4, a criminal complaint brought forth a misdemeanor count of assault and battery on a police officer against Haxhiaj, as well as a common law violation for thwarting a police officer, as indicated by police reports.
In response to the charges, Haxhiaj expressed her perspective regarding the incident, ‘I am a mother, an immigrant, and elected leader who attempted, along with other Worcester residents, to safeguard a traumatized young person, two mothers, and an infant.’ She added, ‘I performed the humanely right actions in the given situation, nothing more, nothing less.’