Assaults against ICE officers up 400 percent since last year, ICE director says

BOSTON — Assaults against ICE officers are up 400 percent since this time period last year, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said Tuesday.

Lyons, a native of South Boston and a graduate of Boston College High School in Dorchester, said the surge in assaults on federal law enforcement officers is, in part, due to politicians including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz who “are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.”

Walz, during a commencement speech over the weekend, compared federal law enforcement agents carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown to a World War II-era Nazi police force, The Hill reported.

“Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets,” Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee last fall, said during the University of Minnesota Law School graduation Saturday, the newspaper reported.

On Tuesday, Lyons released a statement denouncing Walz’s comments.

“On the final day of National Police Week — when those brave enough to put on a badge and a uniform mourn their fallen brothers and sisters — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz referred to my professional, hard-working ICE agents and officers as ‘modern-day Gestapo,’" Lyons said.

“This abhorrent, dehumanizing and ignorant comment should not be tolerated,” Lyons said. “It seems that Mr. Walz prefers violent criminal aliens are released into Minnesota’s communities. If the governor doesn’t like the laws, he’s free to advocate that Congress change them, but he should refrain from putting ICE officers in danger by likening them to one of the most appalling groups in history.”

Lyons added: “He should issue an immediate apology to the men and women protecting his communities.”

Lyons’ comments came days after U.S. Attorney Leah Foley on Wednesday decried local attempts to obstruct ICE operations, following reported assaults on law enforcement officers in a Worcester neighborhood on May 8.

“The interference with ICE operations around Massachusetts has been disturbing, to say the least,” Foley said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

“This conduct poses significant public and officer safety risks. It is conduct that should be vilified rather than glorified,” Foley said.

“I will not stand idly by if any public official, public safety officer, organization or private citizen acts in a manner that criminally obstructs or impedes ICE operations,” Foley said.

On Friday, the city of Worcester released body camera footage and the 911 call after chaos erupted when a crowd surrounded and assaulted police officers trying to detain Brazilian national Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira, 40.

Worcester Police said officers responded to Eureka Street around 11:15 a.m. on May 8 after receiving reports of 25 people surrounding a federal agent.

A link to the full body camera video can be found here.

Two people, a juvenile and a Worcester School Committee candidate, were later arrested.

Ferreira de Oliveira is in the country illegally and faces previous criminal assault charges, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to Boston 25 News.

Worcester police arrested Ferreira de Oliveira back on Feb. 1 on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a pregnant woman, ICE officials said.

Body cameras worn by responding officers captured tense moments when ICE agents, in trying to detain Ferreira de Oliveira, were surrounded and pushed by a large crowd of people.

Several people, including City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj and Worcester School Committee candidate Ashley Spring, are seen in the videos shouting angrily at the officers and pushing and shoving the officers.

One woman twice flashed an obscene gesture with her hands to the officers.

The video shows the crowd surrounding the officers and chanting: “Shame on you! Shame on you!”

Worcester police officers and federal agents ”were threatened, abused and even assaulted on scene,“ Worcester Police Patrol Officers’ Union Local 911 President Thomas Duffy said in a statement released the day after the incident.

Spring, 38, a Worcester School Committee candidate on the November ballot, was among those arrested following the incident.

Spring is accused of pushing multiple officers at the scene and throwing an unknown liquid substance on the officers. She is charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and interfering with a police officer.

The police union also called for an ethics investigation into Haxhiaj, accusing the local councilor of using her elected position to incite aggression towards police officers.

“Regardless of political opinions or views, city officials should never condone the assault of an officer and flat-out disregard to the point of violent opposition, the authority of police to maintain safety and public order,” Duffy said.

Haxhiaj’s office said last week that she will not comment on the matter.

Earlier, during a May 9 press conference with other councilors, Haxhiaj said: “The message for ICE is: Get out of our city.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Worcester District 5 Council Candidate Jose Rivera expressed “disappointment” in the behavior of Haxhiaj, who can be seen in the body cam videos repeatedly pushing, confronting, and interfering with ICE officers trying to make an arrest on May 8.

“As an elected official, she holds a position of leadership and significant influence. In this moment, I believe she failed to use that influence responsibly,” Rivera said. “Video evidence shows actions that did not deescalate the situation but instead appeared to encourage behaviors that in some cases crossed legal lines.”

In one body cam video, a federal officer can be heard saying to Haxhiaj: “You’re obstructing a federal arrest right now, do you understand that? You can be charged.”

In another interaction, another officer says to Haxhiaj in the video: “Back away. Get your hands off of us!”

In yet another scene, Haxhiaj shouts at the officers while following the officers on a sidewalk with others.

“You are cowards! ... Get out of our neighborhood!” the councilor shouts to several officers in the video.

On Eureka Street, Haxhiaj’s “passion seemed to blind her to the rule of law and the consequences of her behavior, even for the very people she was trying to protect,” Rivera said.

“In the video I heard the councilor say her job as a city councilor is to protect her constituent. That is not a city councilor’s job,” Rivera said. “City councilors are not public safety officials, and it is certainly not their job to interfere with an ICE arrest, whether they believe it was legal or not.”

Rivera acknowledged the Worcester Police officers who responded to the Eureka Street incident.

“They demonstrated remarkable calm, even while laws were being challenged in front of them,” Rivera said. “That kind of restraint and professionalism is what we expect from our officers: to prioritize the safety and well-being of our residents above all else.”

“I know there are different points of view as to what was witnessed on the body camera footage, but I observed nothing substantiating claims of police brutality,” Rivera said.

Rivera said ICE “should be required to produce a warrant in every case.”

“This would not only reinforce transparency and accountability, but it would help defuse potentially volatile situations before they escalate,” Rivera said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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