Ex-Worcester councilor convicted on 1 charge, acquitted on another in ICE-related incident
Editor's note: This article was updated at 3:55 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2026 to add details of the sentencing and 4:33 p.m. to add lawyer and defendant reactions.
Former Worcester District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj was found guilty of assaulting a police officer but found not guilty of interfering with police during a chaotic immigration enforcement arrest i n May.
Haxhiaj was tried this week on one charge of assault and battery of a police officer and one charge of interfering with police. Both charges stem from her interactions with a Worcester police officer during a chaotic Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest of a 40-year-old Brazilian mother on Worcester's Eureka Street last year.
The trial lasted for two days with jurors deliberating for almost three hours Wednesday. The jury had to decide whether Haxhiaj intentionally touched Worcester police officer Shauna McGuirk during the operation, whether she intended to hinder McGuirk's duties as an officer and whether she acted in self-defense.
District Court Judge Zachary M. Hillman sentenced Haxhiaj with six months of probation with 40 hours of community service.
Special prosecutor, Assistant Northwest District Attorney Steven Gagne, had requested Haxhiaj be sentenced to a year of probation with 10 hours of community service a month. Haxhiaj's attorney, Elizabeth K. Halloran, requested the matter be placed on file. Gagne opposed Halloran's request.
"Peaceful political protest is a protected and cherished constitutional right, while physical assault on law enforcement officers is not," Gagne said in a press release following the verdict.
After the sentencing, Haxhiaj spoke to a small group of her supporters outside of the Worcester courthouse.
She thanked them for attending the case while also criticizing Worcester's political leaders. She said that those in power "vilified" those who protested ICE on Eureka Street and chastised them for not speaking out when police officers arrested the 17-year-old girl.
Haxhiaj also called for accountability for the police in the form of a civilian oversight board — a recommendation endorsed by theWorcester Regional Research Bureau,
"We will not give up on our immigrant neighbors," Haxhiaj said. "We will not give into fear. And guess what? We will always choose love."
Haxhiaj, who formerly represented Eureka Street as a city councilor, confronted the ICE agents during the arrest. A group of more than 30 civilians were also present on Eureka Street, chanting at ICE agents to not take the mother.
The Worcester Police Department received calls to come to the scene by both ICE agents and civilians. The department claims it tried to keep the peace during the operation and told civilians to move away from the scene.
Special Prosecutor Steven Gagne, an assistant district attorney with the Northwestern District Attorney's Office, argued Haxhiaj used her hands to shove McGuirk after she tried to move the ex-councilor away from a vehicle with the detained 40-year-old mother inside.
Gagne also argued that Haxhiaj put her hands on McGuirk again after officers arrested the mother's 17-year-old daughter. Officials said the daughter chased a federal vehicle with her mother inside and stuck her leg out to prevent it from leaving.
Defense attorney Elizabeth Halloran said Haxhiaj was "grabbed and pulled and shoved" by McGuirk and only raised her hands in defense.
The case led to Worcester residents calling for the charges against Haxhiaj to be dropped. Haxhiaj, who lost her re-election campaign last year, repeatedly defended her actions on Eureka Street, saying she was trying to protect a constituent and her children.
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