Everett mayor: 13-year-old in ICE custody did not have gun
A day after officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that a 13-year-old from Everett arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had a gun and a knife, the Everett mayor clarified the 13-year-old did not have a gun when he was apprehended.
The 13-year-old, whose family is from Brazil, was transferred to a juvenile facility in Virginia on Friday morning, according to attorney Andrew Lattarulo.
ICE arrested the boy after an interaction with the Everett Police Department, the Boston Globe reported . He was brought to the police station and later taken into custody by ICE.
In a post on the social media platform X , Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claims the 13-year-old "posed a public safety threat" and had a firearm and a 5.7-inch knife when arrested. McLaughlin also claimed that the boy had a history of "violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property."
When MassLive asked for comment about the arrest earlier this week, a DHS media spokesperson forwarded an email containing McLaughlin's X post.
Everett Police Chief Paul Strong was not available for comment on Monday.
During a press conference Tuesday, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said the teenager did not have a gun. The knife he had was a 6- to 7-inch, double-sided knife.
Lattarulo told MassLive that regardless of what DHS claims, his 13-year-old client deserves due process.
"If DHS truly believed this arrest was justified, there would be no reason to take a child 500 miles away from his home, family, and lawyer," Lattarulo said. "That decision only makes it harder for us to represent him and raises serious questions about access to counsel and basic fairness."
The boy's transfer took place on the same day Boston federal court Judge Richard G. Stearns ordered the boy's release by Tuesday unless ICE and the Department of Homeland Security could provide grounds for continued detention, according to court documents.
Lattarulo said Monday that the boy was still in custody.
The 13-year-old was previously held at a temporary holding facility in Burlington before his transfer. At the time, Stearns wrote that the boy was being held "presumably in the company of unrelated adult detainees."
Lattarulo acknowledged that Stearns' order could become moot, now that the teenager is at the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Virginia, a place that is supposed to house only minors.
The lawyer, however, said DHS must explain to the judge why the boy was being detained.
"They need to say why," Lattarulo said.
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