Newly confirmed US Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins confronted and berated a TV crew early this year when they attempted to interview her about a possible road rage incident.
Video of Rollins yelling at the WFXT-TV crew resurfaced this week after she was confirmed by the Senate along partisan lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie.
Rollins’ meltdown stemmed from an incident that took place on Christmas Eve of last year at the South Bay Center mall in the Dorchester section of Boston. A woman named Katie Lawson alleged that Rollins, then district attorney of Suffolk County, confronted her when Austin tried to merge in front of Rollins when exiting the parking lot.
“She pulled her car about three inches from my car and said, ‘Do you want me to write you a ticket? Because I’ll write you a ticket,’ put on the sirens, put on the strobe lights for like, probably a couple of seconds,” Austin claimed to WFXT.
“I 1,000 percent thought that she was a police officer because the only person I know that can write you a ticket is an actual, a police officer,” Austin added. “So she implied, in my opinion, she implied that she was a police officer. I thought she was a police officer. That’s why I called the police department.”
Meet the new US attorney for Massachusetts @DARollins pic.twitter.com/3pboCuBklr
— Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) December 8, 2021
When a crew from the station went to ask Rollins about the claim, the DA accused them of trying to intimidate her.
“So the rantings of a white woman get you here and scare my children?” Rollins asked at one point. “Get off our private property, and I swear to God, I’m dead serious. I will find your name.”
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At another point, Rollins asked how the crew had found out where she lived, to which they responded that the information was public record. NeitherRollins’ home nor children were ever shown on camera.
“So as a black woman, in this moment in this country, you’re going to put my f—ing house on screen?” Rollins asked.
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“No, no, no, ma’am, we’re just here approaching you to ask you a question,” a producer replied.
Rollins continued to tell the crew to “get away” from her and her family, and urged them to speak with her while at her job.
“If I get hurt or harmed because of this, you are on the record for that, or my kids are f—ing killed,” she said. “Who do you think you are? This is private property. Get out of here!”
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Then Rollins threatened to call the police, telling the journalists: “We’ll see how that works for you.”
The confrontation ended after a plainclothes Boston police officer stepped in and asked the journalists to end their questioning and leave the property “out of respect” for Rollins’ children.
President Biden nominated Rollins for the role of Massachusetts’ top federal prosecutor in July. Republicans accused her of being soft on crime by declining to prosecute non-violent low-level offenses.
“She has spent a year in her current job as a DA pushing the idea that the state should wipe entire categories of crimes off the lists of things worth prosecuting,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
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“She had … her office not go after trespassers, shoplifters or even those found possessing drugs with intent to distribute,” McConnell continued. “This soft-on-crime advocacy should have earned the nominee a pink slip. Instead, President Biden is giving her a promotion.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Fox News Thursday night that Rollins doesn’t have the “temperament” to be a US attorney before singling out her “terrible record as the DA in Boston” and explaining why she was confirmed by a recorded vote rather than a voice vote.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) December 10, 2021Our country is facing a crime wave and Democrats are fighting to confirm pro-criminal prosecutors like Rachael Rollins.
They will be responsible for the disaster that ensues. pic.twitter.com/DEyJsgdI1c
“Typically, we grant a lot of deference to the president and the two senators from a state,” Cotton told “Fox News Primetime.” “But I put my foot down and said I wasn’t gonna allow that to happen on this one. Every Democratic senator needed to go on the record.”
In a statement following her confirmation, Rollins said she was “deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity” and vowed to bring “data-driven, evidence-based approaches and a heightened emphasis on culturally competent, trauma-informed victim services to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.”
