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Worcester officials release 'disturbing' body cam footage of ICE standoff
City officials in Worcester released 911 calls and body cam footage from a dramatic standoff around an ICE arrest last week that drew angry protesters and dozens of Worcester police officers.
City Manager Eric Batista and Police Chief Paul Saucier released three separate videos, totaling about an hour of footage, depicting officers as they arrive amid a chaotic scene. The fracas played out on Eureka Street on May 8, as federal agents arrested Brazilian national Rosane Ferreira De Oliveira.
“The footage of a family being torn apart is disturbing to watch but the municipality cannot interfere in or prevent a federal detainment,” Batista said in a statement. “As a community, we must come together in support of one another and not allow external forces to divide us.”
The videos show community members pleading with Worcester police not to take the side of ICE agents, who some in the crowd accused of conducting a kidnapping. Footage also shows local police arresting a Brazilian teenager, the daughter of Ferreira, after she screamed hysterically and chased the vehicle that was taking her mother away. The girl was tackled by multiple officers before being loaded into an ambulance for unknown injuries.
Saucier announced Friday that police would call for leniency against the girl.
“The Worcester Police Department is requesting that the court dismiss the case against the juvenile that was arrested during the incident, but it is important to emphasize that assaulting or interfering with law enforcement officers as they carry out their duties is never acceptable,” Saucier said in the statement.
The 911 tapes released Friday include calls from an ICE official reporting that 25 people had surrounded an agent. Another caller portrayed ICE as the villain and demanded that the city’s police chief arrive at the scene.
Batista, the city manager, issued an executive order Friday, barring police from participating in the enforcement of immigration laws — except in response to a request deemed necessary to ensure officer safety.
Critics say Worcester already had similar policies on the books. They are calling for an investigation into police involvement in the May 8 ICE action.
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A Massachusetts high court ruling from 2017 found that state law does not permit local law enforcement to detain people based solely on a request from federal immigration authorities.
Worcester’s new rules do not prevent police from working with ICE on other matters.
