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Justice Dept. tells Boston judge, DA to back off an ICE agent found in contempt of court

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Justice Dept. tells Boston judge, DA to back off an ICE agent found in contempt of court


Only hours after Boston’s top prosecutor criticized federal immigration officials on Wednesday as “extraordinarily reckless” for detaining a man mid-trial last week, the U.S. Department of Justice responded in a series of remarkable letters and court filings.

U.S. Attorney of Massachusetts Leah Foley issued a strongly worded letter to a Boston judge who found an immigration agent in contempt of court on Monday.

“While you may disagree with the enforcement of our federal immigration laws, there is simply no legal basis for you to hold federal officers in criminal contempt for carrying out their sworn duties,” Foley wrote. “Any attempt or threat to interfere with the lawful functions of federal government agents will not be tolerated.”

Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville addresses the court room, while holding an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in contempt after he detained a suspect while he was on trial, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Boston. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP)AP

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Foley, whose office operates under the U.S. Justice Department, also said that federal officials moved to vacate the order of contempt entered against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent by the Boston Municipal Court.

Earlier on Wednesday, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden described the situation as unprecedented when ICE apprehended a man in the middle of a trial on charges of falsifying RMV records.

Hayden said his office was investigating ICE agent Brian Sullivan after Judge Mark Summerville found him in contempt of court for interfering with the trial.

“We have a lot to go over in this case before we can determine exactly how it is we’re going to proceed,” he said.

In a separate letter addressed to Hayden, Foley strongly disagreed and called on him to “cease from entertaining or pursuing any charges” against the ICE officer or any other federal official.

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“The fact that you disfavor ICE officers doing their jobs is not a basis for criminal charges,” Foley wrote to the district attorney. She said there is “no legal basis for such charges.”

“Rather than attacking the brave men and women enforcing laws of the United States, I urge you to work with us to identify, prosecute, and remove the criminals who break them,” Foley wrote.

Wilson Martell-Lebron, the 49-year-old man who was detained, had been at the Edward W. Brooke courthouse on Thursday for his first day of trial on falsifying RMV records, when he was taken by plainclothes ICE agents outside the courthouse.

Martell-Lebron is a citizen of the Dominican Republic who entered the country illegally and has no lawful status, according to a court filing by the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE officials first found a basis to remove him in October 2007, the filing states.

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Foley said that he is in the country illegally, had prior arrests for serious drug trafficking offenses and was arrested pursuant to a valid federal warrant.

Court filings described how federal agents detained Martell-Lebron on Thursday. Sullivan, the ICE agent, was summonsed for the trial to testify and once the day’s proceedings ended, agents grabbed Martell-Lebron after he left the courthouse through a back exit.

Martell-Lebron “took a couple quick steps in the opposite direction before officers were able to seize him and make the arrest.”

Immigration-ICE-Contempt

This family photo provided by attorney’s shows Wilson Martell-Lebron. (Family photo/Erkan & Sullivan, PC via AP)AP

Foley said Wednesday that Sullivan and ICE’s actions were carried out lawfully.

“Our motion is clear: the state court lacked authority to issue the unlawful and erroneous order,” Foley wrote.

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She cited the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution that immunizes federal officers from state prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties.

At the press conference on Wednesday, Hayden criticized ICE’s operations not only with Martell-Lebron, but across the city — and revealed the alarming effect the public’s fear has had on Boston courtrooms.

“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 are doing the exact opposite,” Hayden said.

“We’re now finding witnesses reluctant to cooperate with investigators, due to fear of ICE … We are seeing victims refuse to provide information about crimes against them, due to fear of ICE,” Hayden said.

Summerville, the Boston judge, said he found ICE agent Sullivan in contempt of the court after he committed “intentional and egregious violations of the defendant’s rights” by not allowing due process and a fair trial. Summerville referred the case to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office for an investigation.

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On Monday, the judge also dismissed Martell-Lebron’s RMV case due to prosecutorial misconduct.



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Boston rebels against Trump immigration policies with an ‘ICE Tea Party’ – The Boston Globe

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Boston rebels against Trump immigration policies with an ‘ICE Tea Party’ – The Boston Globe


This time, the people marched in resistance to the harsh treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration.

“We descend from Immigrants and Revolutionaries,” read a battle cry beamed onto the side of the brick meeting house Tuesday.

“The society that stops seeing the people at the grocery line or the people that ride the bus with us, as human beings with beating hearts, then it’s not far off before our society devolves into no society at all,” Gilberto Calderin, director of advocacy at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition said to the crowd of hundreds.

The protest was organized by activist groups Boston Indivisible and Mass 50501, and began at the Irish Famine Memorial Plaza, just steps from the meeting house.

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The lively crowd held up signs, waved American flags, and chanted during the march along Milk Street and Congress Street to the harbor.

Janet England of Brighton held a sign that read, “Democracy Needs Courage.”

The protesters, she said are “true patriots because we want freedom and democracy.”

“Although protest is a long game, we can’t give up. If you think about women’s suffrage, gay rights, the civil rights movement, it took years, but we just can’t give up,” she said.

Gloria Krusemeyer, from Alrington, used a walker to join the march.

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“I’m irritated that I haven’t done more, and I’m just lucky that I can walk fast enough to be doing this,” she said.

Rick Mueller, from Cambridge, was dressed as Uncle Sam and held a large sign that read, “Liberty and Justice For All.”

“We’re fighting for America, so I’m gonna be America,” he said of his costume.

He handed small American flags out to protesters who waved them enthusiastically.

Ice dumping duties was limited to volunteers and select people.

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Among them was Sarah, a mother who brought her 4-year-old daughter, Fiona.

Sarah declined to share her last name for her daughter’s safety.

After throwing ice into the harbor, Fiona shyly said that she wanted to come to the protest to “help families stay together.”

Through tears, Sarah said her decision to bring along Fiona came from wanting to teach her daughter to care about people from all walks of life.

“Kindness and compassion are things we learn in kindergarten and she will be in kindergarten so it’s really important for her to be kind and compassionate,” Sarah said, kissing her daughter’s check.

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Likewise, Sara Sievers, from Cambridge, brought her parents, sister, her nephews and niece to dump ice.

“I think this is one of the most brutal regimes we’ve had in this country, and I want my niece and nephew to remember that it’s important to protest, and that we in Boston are part of a proud tradition of dumping things into the harbor with which we disagree,” Sievers said.

The family wore costumes of historical figures including Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and King Charles.

As the protest came to a close, Martha Laposata, spokesperson for Boston Indivisible said she wanted protestors to walk away knowing their voices matter.

“We cannot stand down,” Laposata said. “When people rise up against an authoritarian government, if they stay consistent and they keep growing, ultimately an authoritarian government will stand down.”

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Camille Bugayong can be reached at camille.bugayong@globe.com.





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MIT professor shot and killed in his Brookline home

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MIT professor shot and killed in his Brookline home


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Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was pronounced dead on Tuesday after being shot on Monday night.

Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was fatally shot at his home in Brookline on Monday, police said. MIT

An MIT professor was shot and killed in Brookline on Monday night.

Brookline police responded a report of a man shot in his home on Gibbs Street, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.

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Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning, the DA says.

Loureiro was the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and a professor of nuclear science and engineering and physics. Originally from Portugal, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs announced his death in a regulatory hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities on Tuesday, according to CNN.

“Sadly, I can confirm that Professor Nuno Loureiro, who died early this morning, was a current MIT faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics, as well as the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving,” an MIT spokesperson wrote in a statement.

In January, Loureiro was honored as one of nearly 400 scientists and engineers with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from former president Joe Biden.

The investigation into the homicide remains ongoing. No further information was released.

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Brookline police investigate shooting that wounded man

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Brookline police investigate shooting that wounded man


A man was hospitalized after being shot Monday night in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The shooting happened on Gibbs Street. There was a large police presence at the scene.

The victim was brought to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His condition was not known.

Police said the victim was shot three times and grazed by another round.

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Authorities did not say if any arrests had been made.

No further information was immediately available.



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