The latest alleged law enforcement misconduct in Mass, Dec. 7-20

Here are the media reports of alleged law enforcement misconduct in Massachusetts that I’ve tracked during the last two weeks.

First, here are the incidents involving federal law enforcement, including immigration agents:

• “ICE is still trying to kick Rümeysa Öztürk out of the country for the perfidy of writing an op-ed in a student newspaper it didn’t like, but a judge ruled [December 8] that as long as she’s here, it has to restore her listing in the national database that determines whether foreign students can participate in American college and work programs.” (Universal Hub)
• “More than a month after several employees’ sudden detention at an Allston car wash, the seven who have been released spoke out about what happened when immigration enforcement agents detained them at their jobs. … Lawyers for the nine employees reasserted they don’t have criminal records. Many have temporary legal statuses and others were already in the process of getting permanent legal statuses.” (GBH)
• “In a review of immigrant habeas-corpus cases filed in Boston federal court just in September, Universal Hub found 60 cases in which federal judges ordered the release of immigrants - in some cases immediately, in most after a hearing by a Justice Department ‘immigration judge’ to determine the amount of bond it would take to let the immigrant go. … But even with scores of similar rulings in recent months in Massachusetts - as well as by federal judges across the country - ICE continues to improperly detain immigrants.” (Universal Hub)
• “Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of a Chelsea mother and her two children who were detained by ICE while accompanying a family member to a court hearing in September. According to the lawsuit, the mother, Hilda Ramirez Sanan, has lived in the United States for more than 20 years and is a lawful permanent resident. … ICE officers then forcefully twisted her arms behind her back to handcuff her, kicked her and slammed her face-first onto the ground, according to the complaint. … Ramirez Sanan suffered a concussion, bruising and radial nerve palsy as a result of the force used during her arrest, according to the lawsuit.” (Boston 25 News)
• “Massachusetts’ governor is calling for federal immigration authorities to stop using a Bedford airport for private deportation and transfer flights. Gov. Maura Healey wrote in a [December 12] letter she had become aware U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as part of its ‘disturbing and anti-American deportation tactics,’ is using ‘private aircrafts at Hanscom Field airport in Massachusetts to quickly remove residents and sever them from their family, friends, and counsel without due process of law.’” (GBH)
• “A Fitchburg man is suing the unnamed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who appears on video to use a prohibited form of chokehold that induced a seizure-like response in him during a November traffic stop. …According to the complaint and a statement by the ACLU, the agents told [Carlos] Zapata Rivera they intended to arrest his wife before one climbed into the vehicle and ‘pressed his thumbs forcefully on Mr. Zapata Rivera’s carotid arteries, restricting blood flow to his brain.’” (Lowell Sun)
• “A Boston federal judge ruled [on December 19] that ICE has to stop denying immigrants not grabbed right at the border their Constitutional rights - including the right to have a bond hearing to set them free as they pursue permanent status. … [The] ruling comes in a case brought by the ACLU in the case of a 38-year-old Salvadoran man, Jose Arnulfo Guerrero Orellano, who has been in the US since 2013, has never been in trouble with the law and has a one-year-old daughter who is an American citizen.” (Universal Hub)

Next are the other stories involving state and local law enforcement. First, if you haven’t read it yet, please check out this update about my public records lawsuit against the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office:

Judge hears arguments about whether Northwestern DA must release names of cops charged with crimes

For years, DA David Sullivan has spent taxpayer money on fight against police transparency

The Mass DumpAndrew Quemere

And here are the rest:

• “Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins is accepting political donations to pay for his legal defense in a federal case in which he is accused of extorting a cannabis company, according to a filing with state campaign finance regulators. In creating a legal defense fund with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, Tompkins can take in money from virtually anyone, including businesses, out-of-state donors, and people who have already contributed the maximum amount this year to his political campaign.” (WBUR)
• “Seven years, four months, and six days. That is the length of time the Boston Police Department allowed an internal affairs (IA) case to linger before finally disciplining an officer accused of lying on the job and numerous other infractions. … The issue came to light during 25 Investigates reporting on BPD Officer Brian Augustine, who was suspended for 15 days without pay in September. The suspension closed out seven different internal affairs cases on his disciplinary record. All but two of those cases were opened more than five years ago.” (Boston 25 News)
• “Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in the case against Matthew Farwell, a former Stoughton police officer charged in connection with the deaths of Sandra Birchmore and her unborn baby, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts announced on [December 9].” (Boston 25 News)
• “Family members of Troy Winslow, a 15-year-old who died, along with two other teens, in a Dorchester crash allegedly stemming from a Boston police pursuit in 2024, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department, city, and state [in December]. … Defendants include Boston police officers Triston Champagnie, who resigned in August 2025, Matthew Farley, and Chardeeza Coleman, the Boston Police Department, along with the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. … The lawsuit said a supervisor instructed the officers to terminate the pursuit, an order the officers allegedly ignored.” (WCVB)
• “More than 40 people gathered [on December 15] in the cold outside the Suffolk County House of Correction to call for a full investigation into the recent death of [Shacoby Kenny, who was] awaiting trial [there]. … One former detainee, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, [said] that he saw some 15 to 20 officers beating Kenny after handcuffing him. He said Kenny was left for 30 minutes to an hour before anyone attempted to perform CPR, and he believed he was dead before leaving the jail.” (GBH)
• “Video taken by an immigration advocate in East Boston and shared with WBUR showed [a man] on the ground — shirtless, barefoot and shackled. [He] cried out for help as two [federal immigration] agents in black hoodies and blue jeans struggled to control him. A crowd began to form, and a court officer in a white shirt and court badge helped the agents subdue the 27-year-old. At one point, the officer helped shove him into the back of a black SUV. … But the incident represented a violation of the Massachusetts Trial Court’s policy not to help in an ICE arrest, according to Trial Court spokeswoman Jennifer Donahue. She said in a statement, ‘Measures are being taken to address this violation.’” (WBUR)
• “A Suffolk County jury found [on December 17] that the Massachusetts State Police discriminated against the department’s highest-ranking woman because of her gender and awarded her $11 million. … The jury’s decision … caps a protracted legal battle by Major Kathryn Downey, 53, a 20-year veteran of the force. She filed the suit in 2018, alleging that she was retaliated against after she reported that another trooper allegedly had sex at a hotel while on duty and stored pornography on a computer hard drive left at work.” (Boston Globe; paywalled)

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Anyway, that’s all for now. Happy holidays!