BOSTON — Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “harming public safety” in Boston after a federal agent detained a suspect last week while he was on trial.
“ICE routinely claims that their actions are improving public safety in Boston, and I’m here today to tell you and to say that they’re doing the exact opposite,” Hayden said during a morning news conference.
Hayden’s criticism of the Department of Homeland Security agency comes after ICE agent Brian Sullivan detained Wilson Martell-Lebron as he was leaving court in Boston on Thursday, March 27. His trial had just begun with opening statements and the first witnesses.
One of Martell-Lebron’s lawyers said that ICE agents jumped on Martell-Lebron without identifying themselves, put him into a truck, and sped away.
“This action by ICE was troubling and extraordinarily reckless,” Hayden said. “ICE’s actions deprived Mr. Martell-Lebron of his right to a fair trial. It also deprived our office of our intent to hold the defendant accountable for his alleged crime.”
During an emergency hearing on Monday, Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville dismissed the charge of making a false statement on a driver’s license application that Martell-Lebron faced and held Agent Sullivan in contempt of court.
Summerville accused ICE of “obstructing justice” and ruled that Sullivan “intentionally” and “egregiously” violated the rights of Martell-Lebron.
“I find that this court cannot trust ICE to return the defendant back to court. I don’t find that they’re credible,” Summerville said. “I have no confidence in ICE, no matter what they told the Commonwealth, that they would ever bring this defendant into court.”
ICE hasn’t responded to our request for comment following Wednesday’s press conference.
Judge Mark Summerville (Boston Municipal Court) tasked the Suffolk County DA’s office with investigating the ICE agent in contempt of court.
Hayden said they’re considering bring criminal charges against him, but they have a lot to go over in the case before proceeding with that.
Hayden noted that his office “did everything in our power” to return Martell-Lebron to court, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
“All of our actions, in this case, clearly demonstrated our intent to hold Mr. Martell-Lebron accountable, and none of our actions demonstrated any collusion with ICE to deprive him of the right to a trial,” Hayden said. “Any claim that we collaborated with ICE and their actions to remove the defendant from the trial are wholly unsupported by any credible evidence.”
Hayden expressed concerns over ICE’s recent operations in Boston and across Suffolk County. A raid led by President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, netted nearly 400 arrests in late March.
“My office’s responsibility is to hold defendants accountable, secure justice for victims, witnesses, and the greater community, and to work with our law enforcement partners and the community to reduce crime and ensure public safety,” Hayden said. “We can not and will not tolerate ICE hindering our ability to pursue those vital public safety goals.”
Hayden touted Boston as the safest major city in America, citing “historic lows in homicides, shootings, and other serious crimes” in recent years thanks to collaboration with government, city neighborhoods, and community partners.
“I’ve watched ICE’s actions over the last few months, and I have concerns that those actions are harming our public safety goals,” Hayden said. “We’re now finding witnesses reluctant to cooperate with investigators due to fear of ICE. This harms public safety. We are seeing victims refuse to provide information about crimes against them due to fear of ICE. This harms public safety.”
Hayden said the presence of ICE in Suffolk County is having a “chilling effect on some of the most vulnerable residents.”
Hayden warned that his office “will not stand silent” if ICE continues to remove suspects mid-trial.
“We will not stand silent while ICE operations jeopardize the public safety gains we and our partners have worked so long and so hard to achieve,” Hayden said.
Hayden noted that he’s “cautiously optimistic” that his office will be able to work with ICE moving forward.
In a statement issued Tuesday morning, an ICE spokesperson confirmed the detainment of Martell-Lebron outside court and said that he is an “illegally present Dominican national with prior drug trafficking convictions.”
The detainment of Martell-Lebron comes just days after six federal agents, with their faces covered, approached Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk on a Somerville street, took her into custody, and rushed her to an ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana.
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