Worcester city councilors say they’ve received an increasing number of threats in recent weeks, as tensions across the community remain high following an immigration arrest that turned chaotic.
During a City Council meeting Tuesday, Councilor Etel Haxhiaj said she has been stalked, accosted at public events, and sent messages targeting her sons and calling for her to be raped and killed.
“There was a bomb threat specific to my house,” Haxhiaj said, noting that a Worcester police bomb squad had to investigate the matter. “My agenda is to serve people, and I have done that. I have done that for people that would rather see me dead than alive.”
Councilor Khrystian King later posted on X a video of one instance when Haxhiaj was harassed. The video shows a man directing profanities at Haxhiaj, King and state Sen. Robyn Kennedy during a Memorial Day celebration at a cemetery. They repeatedly asked him to stop following them, but he refused. King walked alongside the man, separating him from Haxhiaj and Kennedy, as the incident continued.
“This wasn’t protest. This wasn’t free speech,” King wrote. “It was intimidation. It was harassment.”
A spokesman for the Worcester Police Department said there’s an ongoing investigation into threats against city councilors. Federal authorities are involved in the review, the spokesman noted.
In recent weeks, City Manager Eric Batista has increased security around City Hall, including installing metal detectors at the front entrance and having officers patrol the building.
Haxhiaj’s remarks at the council meeting came days after a man in Minnesota allegedly killed a state lawmaker there and shot another. Police say he had a “hit list” of elected Democrats he planned to target.
In Worcester, Haxhiaj has faced increasing criticism from some people as police charge her with assaulting an officer during the federal immigration operation on Eureka Street in May. Other residents who support her say publicly released police body camera footage shows she did nothing wrong during the incident.
During the meeting, Haxhiaj called on her colleagues to more regularly denounce the threats she and other municipal leaders have been facing. Her comments prompted other councilors to discuss their own experiences with threatening messages.
Councilor Kate Toomey noted she recently installed security cameras around her home and, when she goes to restaurants, she makes sure to account for all exits in case she needs to escape quickly. Mayor Joseph Petty added “he’s almost become numb” to the attacks he and other city leaders constantly receive. And Councilor Luis Ojeda called on fellow members to stop inflaming community divisions and attacking each other.
That acrimony among councilors was recently on display shortly after more than 50 protestors disrupted a council meeting last week. In a statement responding to the incident, Councilor Candy Mero Carlson said King, Haxhiaj and Councilor Thu Nguyen fueled the protest.
“Us, as colleagues, have to stand with one another at the end of the day,” Ojeda said. “To see colleagues accuse other colleagues, you’re inviting others to stand on that, to push on that. We just can’t do that, no matter how frustrated you are, how angry you are.”
