The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office has dropped criminal trespassing charges against two anti-ICE protesters, just days before the beginning of a trial. Activists had said they planned to use the court case to highlight detention conditions inside ICE’s New England field office.
In September, Nathan Phillips and Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor tried to deliver food to immigrants at the ICE facility in Burlington, following months of revelations about the office being used to house detainees for multiple days. They were arrested and charged by Burlington Police with misdemeanor trespassing.
Instead of striking a deal with prosecutors, the pair decided to go to trial and bring witnesses to testify about the controversial facility.
“I am disappointed that we weren’t able to tell those stories in [court] and really shed light on what’s happening,” said Lawton-Sticklor, a Leominster-based activist who was representing herself pro se in the proceedings. “But I also think that criminalizing protest is not a good thing.”
The federal government’s use of the Burlington site to house ICE detainees has been condemned as inhumane by attorneys. Members of Congress have regularly visited the site to conduct oversight visits.
Federal officials say detainees are provided with proper meals and medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and family.
The trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 26, nearly a year after the arrest. But on Wednesday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office told the court it was dropping the charges.
Kylah Clay, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild representing Phillips, said she was surprised by the decision — and its timing.
“I assume that once they saw that we were going to be calling some really important witnesses to testify, they decided it wasn’t worth it for them to go to trial,” she said.
A spokesperson for Ryan did not immediately answer questions about the decision to drop charges.
The defense’s witness list included Robert Murray, the owner of the building in Burlington that houses ICE’s New England headquarters. Activists have regularly picketed outside Cafe Escadrille, a posh Burlington restaurant owned by Murray.
The defense was also planning to hear testimony from a woman recently held for 10 days at the Burlington office, as well as expert witnesses to discuss the health impacts of staying in a facility not designed for long-term detention.
At least two additional groups of protesters have been arrested in Burlington, including a dozen people who tried to bring food to detainees in April.
