Feds drop charges against protester allegedly beaten unconscious by Border Patrol
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday dropped charges against an immigration protester who Border Patrol agents allegedly beat unconscious during the Trump Administration’s wintertime enforcement operation.
On Jan. 22, masked agents surrounded Paul E. Johnson's vehicle and pulled him out after he stopped to observe them. Johnson, 47, told MPR News that he had to sneak a phone call to his wife because the agent guarding him at HCMC would not allow him to use the phone while he was shackled to a hospital bed for five days.
Johnson, a remodeling contractor, also suffered a torn rotator cuff that put him out of work for months.
In a sworn affidavit, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Richard Berger accused Johnson of threatening the Border Patrol with a baseball bat and dousing a government vehicle with pepper spray. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi posted Johnson’s name and photo to social media along with 15 other protesters, whom she called “rioters.”
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Of the three dozen cases against people accused of assaulting federal agents, Johnson’s is the 20th that prosecutors have moved to dismiss. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has quietly entered into non-prosecution agreements with 11 others.
Berger signed sworn affidavits in 18 of the 31 cases that prosecutors would later dismiss or defer.
At an April hearing for a woman accused in a separate case of ramming a Border Patrol vehicle, Magistrate Judge David Schultz said that he did not believe the government’s version of events and said that Berger had signed a “false affidavit.”
Weeks after his arrest, prosecutors dropped their original felony complaint against Johnson and charged him with a misdemeanor. Defense attorney Kevin Riach had sought to disqualify the Army attorneys who were prosecuting the case, arguing that their involvement violates the Posse Comitatus Act, but a judge later ruled that military lawyers may continue to serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys.
Riach also argued that the Border Patrol’s stop of Johnson’s vehicle was unconstitutional and that the agents “punched him in the head as he screamed for help.” Riach notes in his motion to dismiss the case for outrageous government that “[a]gents photographed [Johnson] in his hospital bed, clad in his gown, while he slept under the influence of painkillers,” held him incommunicado, and only unshackled him when he had physical therapy appointments.
In a motion to dismiss the charges Thursday, U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen writes that the government "intends to pursue an investigation" into the allegations Johnson raised.
