Federal judges in Minnesota are continuing to reject certain arrest warrants for people protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, citing a general lack of evidence, according to a report from MS NOW.
The warrants claim that protesters have been assaulting officers and committing other crimes during the widespread protests in Minneapolis. However, some of the requests for warrants from federal prosecutors do not appear to establish evidence of a crime, creating rare instances in which judges refuse to issue warrants for possible criminal behavior.
In one case, a federal judge rejected a warrant against a protester who allegedly threw a single egg at a law enforcement vehicle, according to the report. In two other high-profile instances, Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko rejected a complaint to arrest Chauntyll Louisa Allen, a St. Paul school board member.
Prosecutors wanted to stick her with federal charges of seeking to threaten or intimidate people from engaging in worship in a church where an ICE official is also a pastor.
However, Micko did grant prosecutors a request to charge her with conspiracy to make threats. Micko also rejected a complaint against Don Lemon for following protesters inside the church, as previously reported by The Washington Post.
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Customs and Border Protection commander Gregory Bovino has expressed frustration in failing to secure warrants against protesters. “We work very hard with the Department of Justice, with the courts, to gather and obtain those warrants,” he said at a press Thursday press conference. “We’re going to continue to work with judges and the courts to obtain these warrants with those judges.”
