Image Credit: X screenshot 
Footage going viral shows the mayor of Lawrence, Mass., asking for the assistance of a translator during a hearing with state lawmakers.
Video shows Mayor Brian A. DePeña, who hails from the Dominican Republic, attending a virtual meeting with the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission where the issue of him needing a translator was addressed.
The mayor of Lawrence, MA, a once prominent manufacturing town that is now overwhelmingly Hispanic, needs a translator in court.
— Mass Daily News (@MassDailyNews) December 20, 2025
The judge refused to let him use the translator due to possible mistranslations
Do you think English should be required to work in city government? pic.twitter.com/p4nm3eyUOX
The presiding officer overseeing the hearing denied DePeña’s request to use his personal assistant as his translator, instead approving an official court-appointed translator to aid the mayor.
The scene has shocked social media users, with many questioning how a non-English speaking mayor could be elected in an American city.
As a post from Mass Daily News describes, Lawrence – a city of 90,000 people smack dab in the center of New England – was once a “prominent manufacturing town that is now overwhelmingly Hispanic,” with a demographic composition of around 82%.
Moreover, “Massachusetts does not currently require elected officials to speak fluent English,” reports The Post Millennial.
“I can’t believe this is real,” commented popular X account @WallStreetApes, with X user Eric Daugherty writing, “HOLY SMOKES.”
“The mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts can’t speak English,” wrote another X account alongside a still from Gangs of New York showing “Bill the Butcher” wrapped in a U.S. flag.
"The mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts can't speak English" https://t.co/HW7mCPUnwy pic.twitter.com/pDhrUn6YSh
— Plantation Scientist (@plantationdrip) December 22, 2025
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