BOSTON — A Massachusetts woman was arrested after federal prosecutors say she threatened to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a violent encounter caught on camera outside of a local courthouse.
Bethany Abigail Terrill, 37, of Malden, is slated to be arraigned in federal court in Boston on Thursday afternoon on a charge of threatening a United States official, according to United States Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, head of the FBI Boston division.
Federal agents were engaging in lawful immigration enforcement outside of Malden District Court on Monday, Sept. 29, when they encountered Terrill, who allegedly “physically interjected herself into the middle of agents” as they tried to make an arrest.
Foley and Docks allege that Terrill was also verbally abusive, making threatening statements to kill the federal officers on scene.
Terrill began screaming, “ICE is here, ICE is here. You guys are monsters, this is insane,” according to prosecutors. As Terrill recorded the encounter on her cellphone, she allegedly pushed into agents and asked, “Sir, what’s your name, what’s your name?” while adding, “I can try to help you,” and “I am an American civilian, I have a right to be here.”
When agents notified Terrill that she could be arrested if she continued to fail to comply with their requests to give them space, she allegedly yelled, “Charlie Kirk died, and we love it… We’re coming for you, gonna kill you.”
A criminal complaint revealed that Terrill allegedly hooked her long acrylic fingernails on an agent’s handcuffs in an attempt to prevent them from restraining her wrists, while calling the agents “Nazis” and “disgusting.”
After agents subdued Terrill, she reiterated, “We are coming for you. We don’t like Nazis in America,” the complaint stated.
Foley and Docks noted that the agents involved in the encounter were identifiable by their badges, agency placards, and clothing. They also said the incident was captured on the agents’ body-worn cameras, in addition to Terrill’s phone.
Terrill had no comment outside of Moakley Federal Courthouse alongside her attorney.
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Boston 25 legal analyst Peter Elikann said the allegations went well beyond free speech.
“You can call them Nazis and monsters,” he said. “Where you cross the line is that the you may not physically threaten somebody, and that was the problem.”
He continued, “This isn’t just federal agents. This is the police, the average person on the street... We have freedom of speech in the US. The place you cross the line is when you physically threaten somebody.”
Terrill’s attorney inside the courtroom on Thursday said the Malden woman is a business owner and a churchgoer.
She claimed her client is terrified.
An investigation into the alleged incident is ongoing.
Read the full criminal complaint against Bethany Abigail Terrill:
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