AG calls out Bristol sheriff in ongoing battle over alleged civil rights violations at his detention middle

The two elected officials have been in a bitter back and forth since Healey’s office announced on December 15 that Hodgson violated the rights of 25 federal immigration detainees during a hand-to-hand combat in May.

Hodgson, a Republican, was quick to dismiss the investigation as a politically motivated endeavor and criticized Healey for not speaking to him directly before publishing her report.

Hodgson’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

During a press conference last week, he said Healey’s report was “about halfway down the sewer pipe.”

“Do you know why she didn’t interview me? She didn’t want to know the truth, ”Hodgson told reporters.

Healey wrote Tuesday that she reached out to Hodgson on May 4 to discuss the incident and that she publicly announced her investigation the following day. She said her staff interviewed 13 of the sheriff’s clerks, discussed videos and documents with Hodgson’s attorney, and reviewed his incident report and comments to the media about the confrontation.

Their investigation did not result in criminal charges, but found that Hodgson’s office illegally released dogs on inmates and used excessive amounts of pepper spray and pepper bullets against them after tensions erupted over coronavirus tests. She recommended to Hodgson not to hold detainees on behalf of the federal government who are accused of violating civil immigration.

The sheriff’s office operates the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Center and is paid for by the US Immigration and Customs Service to house immigrant detainees.

ICE has failed to comment on Healey’s report and has cited an ongoing investigation by the inspector general of its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.

Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins added Tuesday’s criticism of Hodgson and wrote on Twitter that those detained were victims of criminal behavior.

“Not a single criminal complaint was filed against him. None, ”she wrote. “These are crimes. No more letters, inquiries and civil suits. #Justice for all “

The incident involving the immigrant detainees has been reviewed by state lawmakers, members of the state’s congressional delegation, and state and federal courts.

On Friday, a Senate committee found that Hodgson’s office had broken the law by refusing to allow Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz into the facility the day after the confrontation.

Last Thursday, the Massachusetts subsidiary of the American Civil Liberties Union asked a judge in Suffolk Superior Court to schedule a status conference on a lawsuit to gain access to recordings and videos of the incident, which Hodgson’s office was maintaining.

U.S. District Judge William Young has prevented the sheriff’s office from accepting new immigrant detainees and has ordered coronavirus tests for staff and people detained at the facility on behalf of the federal government. Young passed the order in a class action lawsuit filed in March seeking the release of civilian immigrant detainees who were at risk of developing COVID-19.

Since the lawsuit began, the number of immigrants detained in Bristol County has fallen from 148 to 19 as of December 1, according to court records. There have been no COVID-19 cases among immigrant detainees there for about nine months, Hodgson’s office said in court files.

In a separate lawsuit filed on Monday, a group of taxpayers urged the state’s Supreme Court to overturn agreements with ICE that allow local sheriff’s offices to identify, arrest, and transport undocumented immigrants.

While ICE has these agreements with sheriffs in Bristol and Barnstable counties, the complaint is directed to the office of Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr., as this contract is the only one, according to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, which represents sheriffs’ representation who is “operational” is 28 plaintiffs.

Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.