WORCESTER – A jury found former Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj guilty of assault and battery on a public employee and not guilty of interfering with a police officer in connection with an arrest by federal agents on May 8, on Eureka Street in Worcester.
The judge sentenced Haxhiaj to six months of probation and 40 hours of community service.
Ashley Spring, who was also arrested on May 8, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on Tuesday. She will perform 40 hours of community service without admitting fault or having a conviction.
The trial began on Tuesday, Feb. 11, and reconvened on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Only Haxhiaj testified on Wednesday. After the closing arguments, the judge put the case in the hands of the jury of four women and two men shortly after noon.
On Tuesday, one Worcester police officer said during testimony that the department responded to support ICE agents, contradicting statements by city officials in response to the incident last year. Others said they were there to preserve the peace.
Officer Shauna McGuirk, whom Haxhiaj was charged with assaulting, said that she initially approached Haxhiaj after an ICE agent asked her to “deal with” the daughters of the woman ICE arrested that day and Haxhiaj.
McGuirk also said that she attempted to escort Haxhiaj away from the scene with one hand. Haxhiaj’s attorney, Elizabeth Halloran, played the video of the contact between the two women, which clearly showed McGuirk grab Haxhiaj with both hands.
McGuirk also alleged that the push caused her to lose balance.
The segment of video selected by the prosecutor does not appear to show any loss of balance.
Haxhiaj testified that while a city councilor, her standard practice was to show up for constituents in crisis, including after fires and a roof collapse. She said she saw the situation on Eureka Street as a crisis.
Haxhiaj also said that in the video clip cited by prosecutors, she was attempting to create space after being grabbed from behind and spun around by McGuirk, and she was obstructed from backing away.
This is the video clip that the prosecutor said shows the assault.
On May 8, 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 individuals 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 denied all charges.
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 the federal government had the right to appeal the decision to grant asylum to Ferreira de Oliveira, it declined to do so.
