The Worcester city councilor charged with assaulting a police officer while trying to block the arrest of a criminal illegal immigrant says she believes she did the “humane thing” during the chaotic showdown.

“I am a mother, an immigrant and elected leader who attempted, along with other Worcester residents, to protect a traumatized young person, two mothers and an infant,” City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj stated in a post on BlueSky. “I did the humane thing to do in this situation, nothing more, nothing less.”

Haxhiaj’s statement came hours after a Worcester District Court clerk magistrate on Wednesday found probable cause to charge the councilor with one count each of assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with police.

The Worcester Police Department had sought three charges against Haxhiaj in connection with her conduct in the May 8 altercation with federal immigration agents in a residential neighborhood she represents.

Haxhiaj joined roughly 25 activist neighbors in attempting to shield a criminal illegal immigrant and her family members from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the operation.

ICE targeted Rosane Ferreira De Oliveira, 40, originally of Brazil, who is accused of hitting her pregnant daughter with a phone charger cable in an incident this past February.

Haxhiaj’s charges stem from the councilor allegedly pushing a police officer, identified as Shauna McGuirk, in the chest and pulling the officer’s arm as she was making an arrest, according to a statement of facts filed by Worcester police Lt. John Bossolt, per the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

She is scheduled to be arraigned on July 23.

“My life’s calling has been to help others,” Haxhiaj wrote in her statement. “I am a former refugee who fled and escaped violence. I, like too many others in our city, have previously lived through the nightly terrors of whisper campaigns, street round-ups and disappeared neighbors, which I experienced when I lived in Albania and Greece. It is frightening that the same type of conduct is now a reality in this country.”

Body camera footage that the Worcester Police Department released a week after the clash shows Haxhiaj grabbing at ICE officers and mouthing, “Don’t touch me!” She’s heard shouting, “Do not take her!” “You do not show any warrants, get out of our neighborhood.”

A day after the incident, the Worcester Police Patrol Officers’ Union demanded that the city perform an investigation into Haxhiaj’s conduct, saying that it believes the councilor “broke her oath … and ethical laws.”

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley also indirectly reacted to the incident, sending a warning less than a week later that her office would investigate anyone who attempts to interfere with ICE operations.

“Protecting the most vulnerable should not lead to being targeted and vilified,” Haxhiaj wrote in her statement. “And working to improve policing in our city by calling for oversight and accountability should not provoke political grandstanding and attacks. I look forward to responding to these charges in court.”