Federal charges filed after protests of immigration operations
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More than a dozen people arrested while protesting or observing immigration agents during enforcement operations in the Twin Cities appeared in federal court Wednesday. All face federal charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers — the same statute used in many Jan. 6 prosecutions.
Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster unsealed the criminal complaints as each defendant made an initial appearance.
In one case, 23-year-old Nasra Ahmed is accused of swearing at officers, throwing an egg and spitting during her arrest. Ahmed has publicly disputed that account, saying ICE agents surrounded and detained her outside her St. Paul apartment. Video recorded by neighbors shows multiple officers handcuffing her and placing her in a vehicle.
Prosecutors did not seek to hold any defendants in jail but asked for release conditions barring contact with the federal agents involved. Judge Foster questioned how such an order could be enforced without identifying those agents and declined to impose the restriction.
Defense attorneys criticized the government for publicizing defendants’ names and photos before the complaints were unsealed. Foster said she was “deeply disturbed” by the move but said she lacked authority to sanction the Justice Department at this stage. Kevin Riach, a defense attorney, calls the charges bogus.
— Matt Sepic, MPR News
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