VIDEO: ACLU of Mass. issues statement after video footage of incident at former ICE facility in Bristol County released

BOSTON/BRISTOL COUNTY – The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has released video footage of a May 2020 incident at a Bristol County jail that appears to show correctional officers — under the direct supervision of then-Sheriff Thomas Hodgson — using force against a group of immigration detainees. The AGO has previously determined that this use of force was excessive and violated the detainees’ civil rights, as documented in its December 15, 2020, report.

The ACLU of Massachusetts stated that, together with law firm Foley Hoag LLP, they have been litigating against the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office for public records surrounding this incident for almost three years. Throughout the lawsuit, the BCSO under Hodgson had consistently refused to release contemporaneous records of the incident.

Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, today released the following in response to the release of this footage:

“This footage is deeply disturbing. It appears to confirm the attorney general’s findings in 2020 that Bristol County officials — under the direct supervision of then-Sheriff Thomas Hodgson — used excessive force against civil detainees in their custody. Likewise, the video appears to confirm that officials were deliberately indifferent to substantial risks to the detainees’ health and safety. This is exactly the kind of abuse that can fester when the authority of sheriffs is left unchecked, and when local officials are allowed to pursue a hateful anti-immigrant agenda. The release of this footage is only the beginning: The ACLU of Massachusetts is continuing its lawsuit against the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office to ensure that the public receives complete transparency and accountability for this incident. Sheriffs and other public officials, at all levels of government, must follow the law. We commend Attorney General Campbell for releasing this footage.”

In May 2020, the ACLU of Massachusetts, together with law firm Foley Hoag LLP, sued the BCSO for information about the incident that occurred at the BCSO’s immigration detention facility. The reported incident involved an encounter between BCSO personnel and immigration detainees that escalated to physical violence and resulted in the hospitalization of three detainees. Former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson previously made multiple, detailed public assertions about the incident, including in a press conference, a radio interview, and multiple statements on social media. The ACLU filed its lawsuit under Massachusetts’ public records law after the BCSO issued a blanket denial of the public records request. The BCSO claimed that all information concerning the incident must be shielded from public view.

Sheriff Hodgson issues statement in response to lawsuit over ICE Detention Center

In May 2021, the AGO’s December 2020 report—the Department of Homeland Security announced it would cut all ties with the BCSO. This included ending a contract to house immigration detainees in Bristol County and ending a so-called “287(g)” contract, which deputizes local officials for federal immigration enforcement.