NORTHAMPTON – Several organizations announced a “Drop the Charges” event in Northampton on Saturday, Jan. 31, outside the offices of the Northwestern District Attorney’s offices at One Gleason Plaza in Northampton. The event is scheduled from 1 PM to 2 PM and will include multiple speakers.
The event supports dropping misdemeanor criminal charges brought by a Worcester police officer against former Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj.
The groups cooperating to hold the event are Worcester Indivisible, Indivisible Northampton, Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, Indivisible West Quabbin and Standing Up for Racial Justice – Worcester, Refuse Fascism, and Independent Socialist Group.
A statement about the event released by the groups says, in part, that “unlike elsewhere across the country, State Prosecutor Steven Gagne is continuing to press charges.”
Gagne is the first assistant district attorney in the office of Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan. Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early Jr.’s office recused itself from the case.
The Worcester officer filed charges against Haxhiaj for assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with police in the days after an arrest by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on May 8 on Eureka Street in Worcester.
Community members received notifications of immigration-related enforcement from a network established by LUCE, which describes itself as an immigrant justice network. Several community members reported to the scene, including Haxhiaj, then a Worcester City Councilor. The incident took place in the district she then represented.
Federal agents used the daughter and grandchild of Roseanne Ferreira De Oliveira to lure her from her home, according to multiple public statements and news agency reporting. The agents did not possess a judicial warrant to enter her home. When Ferreira De Oliveira arrived at the scene, the agents took her into custody.
Several inviduals attempted to prevent federal agents from leaving the scene with Ferreira De Oliveira in custody. The U.S. Department of Justice did not file any charges related to the incident.
Worcester Police responded to the scene and enabled the agents to leave with Ferreira De Oliveira in custody.
During that scene, the Worcester officer claims Haxhiaj pushed her while attempting to reach Ferreira De Oliveira. Haxhiaj has denied all charges. A trial on those charges is scheduled for Feb. 10.
Ferreira De Oliveira was lawfully present in the United States at the time of her arrest by federal agents. She had a pending legal claim for asylum. Applicants for asylum may legally remain in the United States during the adjudication of the claim.
At the time of her arrest, Ferreira De Oliveira faced a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant victim. The police report filed in the case said that the complaining witness claimed that Ferreira De Oliveira “struck her with a phone charger cable, causing visible welts on her arm.”
Prosecutors dropped that charge on July 18, as the complaining witness declined further cooperation with the prosecution of the case.
Ferreira De Oliveira remained in federal custody from May 8 until after the approval of her asylum claim in September. Although it could appeal the decision to grant asylum to Ferreira De Oliveira, the federal government declined to do so.
