Massachusetts lawmakers with policing backgrounds say the confrontation between activists and ICE agents in Worcester underscores the need for first responders to have the power to create a buffer zone from unruly bystanders.

State Reps. Richard Wells, a Democrat who served for 32 years with the Milton Police, and Steven Xiarhos, a Republican who spent 40 years with Yarmouth Police, are behind a bill they say would deter people from harassing first responders.

Under the HALO Act, which has received bipartisan support, first responders would be allowed to warn people to stay away if they are getting in the middle of and disrupting a scene. Bystanders deemed to be interfering with an operation would be ordered to back off at least 25 feet.

People who refuse would be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 for the first offense, the legislation outlines. Repeat offenders would face a fine of up to $5,000 and potential jail time for up to a year.

While the legislation hasn’t seen much action since being introduced earlier this year, Wells and Xiarhos say the bill is needed more than ever to prevent further incidents like the chaotic Worcester ICE showdown.

First Amendment advocates counter that a buffer zone around first responders would stifle the public’s right to know.

The presence of federal agents in a residential neighborhood sparked anger on the morning of May 8 in Worcester. Over two dozen neighbors responded to the scene in an attempt to block the arrest of an illegal alien accused of assaulting her pregnant 16-year-old daughter.

City police responded to calls from federal agents who needed assistance in separating a crowd of roughly 25 activists who surrounded them.

“The more I watch incidents like Worcester, the more I feel something like the HALO Act has to be put into place, just to give (first responders) a little more protection,” Wells told the Herald. “If you see some of these (activists), they just don’t care, they think it’s a sport, they think it’s like a game.”

Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said he believes the proposal is “unnecessary and dangerous to the public’s right to know,” and that police officers could easily abuse the law.

“It’s already against the law to interfere with police, and we have a strong First Amendment right to record them,” Silverman told the Herald on Saturday. “This right is especially needed now with federal agents in our communities detaining immigrants with local law enforcement often present.”

“First responders must be protected,” he added, “but not in a way where they can needlessly shield themselves from the eyes of the public.”

The bill does not contain specific language regarding the First Amendment right to record first responders at the scene.

Wells and Xiarhos highlighted how people would still be allowed to conduct so-called First Amendment audits in which individuals record interactions with public officials in public spaces to test their right to free speech.

Xiarhos said the mission of the bill is to prevent people from harassing first responders – police, firefighters and EMTs – and “calling them names, horrible names, right to their face.”

“It’s freedom of speech, but it is disrespectful, and it is not right,” the Cape Cod rep told the Herald on Saturday. “The HALO Act is the perfect balance between freedom of speech, say what you want, even though it’s nasty or negative, but give us 25 feet so we can do our job.”

Xiarhos also highlighted how communities are struggling to hire first responders. The bill could help remedy that, ensuring they would feel respected. This is the first time such a proposal has been introduced in Massachusetts, and a hearing on it has yet to be scheduled, he added.

“We are leaders in education, we are leaders in healthcare and all kinds of things,” Xiarhos said of the Bay State. “Why don’t we lead in this way where you can be proud that in Massachusetts, we respect our first responders? They have a job to do, they are risking their lives.”

The Worcester Police Department has released the first batch of body camera footage files and audio from emergency communication dispatch calls from the ICE showdown, bringing to life the moments when city officers responded.

City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, one of the neighbors at the scene, is seen grabbing at federal agents and yelling, “Do not take her!” and mouthing, “Don’t touch me!” She’s also heard shouting, “You do not show any warrants, get out of our neighborhood.”

“The body-worn camera footage from the first responding officer will show that the target of ICE’s operation was already detained by federal agents prior to WPD’s arrival and that WPD did not assist ICE with the civil arrest,” City Manager Eric D. Batista said in a statement after the release on Friday. “The footage of a family being torn apart is disturbing to watch, but the municipality cannot interfere in or prevent a federal detainment.”

The HALO Act, pending at the State House, is modeled after a similar law in Florida.

Neighbor to Neighbor, an activist group that deployed members to the Worcester scene, called the Massachusetts proposal “overkill.” It added that it “fully respects the necessity of first responders to be able to carry out their lawful duties without harassment or interference.”

A representative for the group highlighted how a federal judge in January temporarily blocked Louisiana from instituting a police buffer law that would have made it a misdemeanor to approach law enforcement after being told to stand back 25 feet.

“This isn’t Louisiana, Arizona, Indiana, or Florida. This is Massachusetts,” the representative told the Herald. “The rights of the people are just as sacrosanct as the duty of law enforcement to protect those rights here.”

Worcester Police has requested the court to drop charges it pressed against a 16-year-old juvenile female, identified as the daughter of the woman detained by ICE, at the scene.

The department also arrested School Committee candidate Ashley Spring, 39, on four counts of assault and battery on a police officer.

Frank Frederickson, the director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Fraternal Order of Police, called the Worcester incident a “pretty good example of how the public steps in and escalates  situations when official duties are taking place.”

Frederickson, a former Yarmouth police chief, had a 43-year policing career.

“We have worked a lot in the profession to de-escalate situations through training, constant reminders to officers, constant court cases,” he told the Herald on Saturday. “We can only do so much. There are times when people who are not involved in an incident, and their emotions get too much of them, and they escalate situations by getting in the way of the official duties of police officers.”