Fired Boston city hall staffer wants body cam footage of her arrest made public

A former Boston City Hall staffer who claims she was wrongfully terminated is urging a court to unseal police body camera footage from her arrest, saying it will prove she did not strike a police officer last spring.

Marwa Khudaynazar made the request in a motion filed Wednesday as part of her lawsuit against the city, Mayor Michelle Wu and a Boston police officer who was part of her arrest. Khudynazar alleges she was fired to protect Wu and her staff in an election year.  

Khudaynazar and her then-boyfriend and fellow city employee, Chulan Huang, were arrested on domestic violence charges in May following an alleged violent argument that centered around one of the mayor’s top cabinet members, Segun Idowu. She is also accused of punching a police officer, which she denies.

She says the footage shows she never assaulted the officer, and that releasing it would prove her case.

“Because of this false allegation, I have been shunned by friends and society because the public believes that I punched a Boston Police Department officer. I did not," she wrote in an affidavit.

Court records show the federal judge sealed the footage after a request by one of the responding officers, who is represented by a city attorney. The officer argued the footage should be kept under wraps due to a state law keeping secret all police records on domestic violence, as well as Khudynazar's ongoing criminal case.

"There is no compelling public interest in disclosing this information," the officer's motion stated.

The case initially gained attention as political rivals accused Wu of a coverup in an election year.

Khudaynazar alleged that Idowu — the city’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion and Huang’s boss at the time — made sexual advances toward her when they met by chance at a Boston bar. An external law firm brought in by the city conducted a three-week confidential investigation and cleared Idowu of sexual misconduct. In a statement, Idowu hailed what he called the “vindication” and sought to separate himself from the events that took place between Khudaynazar and Huang, saying they “quite simply did not involve me.”

Wu has said the city does not tolerate harassment, and that she was satisfied the allegations were “thoroughly investigated.” The city said Khudaynazar and Huang were fired because they “invoke[d] their public positions to avoid consequences of an altercation with police."

A spokesperson for Wu did not comment on the latest request for body camera footage or accusations that she worked behind the scenes to avoid a scandal.

The police department has declined to release the footage publicly, citing a state law that keeps police records involving domestic violence confidential.

But, Khudaynazar's motion states, “the District Attorney has acknowledged that the video will come out if it goes to trial.”