The Worcester Police Division arrested two protesters after responding to a name for a “hostile crowd” that had “surrounded” a federal ICE agent.
Dozens of metropolis residents gathered on Eureka Avenue, in a residential neighborhood, when the showdown with federal brokers sparked anger Thursday morning.
Worcester Police weren’t initially on the scene however responded at about 11:13 a.m. after receiving a report of a “federal agent” being “surrounded by a large group of about twenty-five people.”
Metropolis police reportedly arrested a teenage woman and a metropolis resident working as a candidate for College Committee.
“We also received a call from someone saying that ICE officers were on scene and refusing to show a warrant to the crowd,” the division wrote in a launch posted on social media Thursday night. Police added, “Officers responded to preserve the peace and prevent anyone from being injured.”
“When officers arrived on scene, they observed a chaotic scene with several federal agents from various agencies attempting to take a female into custody,” the division’s launch states. “Federal agents had placed this female under arrest and were attempting to leave in a vehicle. The crowd was unruly, and several people were putting their hands on federal agents and Worcester officers in an attempt to keep the vehicle and the arrestee from leaving. Worcester officers attempted to de-escalate the situation and keep everyone safe.”
The police added: “As the vehicle went to pull away, a juvenile female had a newborn baby in her arms and was standing in front of the car with the newborn.”
That’s when police instructed her that she was “endangering the child and that she needed to move. Eventually she complied and gave the newborn to someone else. As the vehicle moved away, she ran after the vehicle and kicked the passenger’s side of it. It appeared that she was going to run in front of the moving vehicle, and officers took her into custody.”
The juvenile has been charged with reckless endangerment of a kid, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The toddler was not injured, in keeping with police.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t reply to Herald requests for remark.
Advocacy teams Neighbor to Neighbor and LUCE Immigrant Justice Community stated in a launch Thursday afternoon {that a} “local immigrant family, including a grandmother, mother, and their two children, one 16-year-old daughter and one 1-year-old infant” was “targeted” within the morning motion.
The teams alleged that ICE brokers detained the daddy of the household on Wednesday “without presenting a judicial warrant.”
Federal brokers reportedly returned once more early Thursday morning, allegedly detaining the “elderly woman with a warrant,” in keeping with the teams.
Residents began to assemble within the space as federal brokers interacted with the household, advocates stated.
“As the situation escalated, the residents, fearing the abduction of yet another immigrant family, responded to the threat of agents attempting the arrest,” a launch states. “Residents formed a circle around the local family, chanting and yelling, furious and horrified about yet another targeted attack on the immigrant community in Worcester, which makes up almost a quarter of the city’s population.”
Amid the “chaotic incident,” Worcester Police additionally arrested 38-year-old metropolis resident Ashley Spring for allegedly “pushing multiple officers as they attempted to arrest the juvenile.”
Spring, a College Committee candidate, additionally allegedly “threw an unknown liquid substance” on the officers. She had been charged with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Assault and Battery with a Harmful Weapon (unknown liquid), Disorderly Conduct, and Interfering with a Police Officer.
Movies that surfaced on social media from the scene confirmed residents interacting with Worcester Cops and federal brokers. They’re heard asking “Where’s the warrant?”
Metropolis Councilor Etel Haxhiaj responded to the scene and known as the Trump administration’s deportation efforts “absolutely unconstitutional.”
“As an elected official, it is my obligation to stand up for my constituents,” she stated in an announcement. “I am also a mother, the daughter of immigrants, and her neighbor — I will not sit idly while our families are brutally torn apart.”
The altercation remained underneath investigation as of Thursday night, with police reviewing video and warning that “further charges might be forthcoming.”
