A protester was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he assaulted a federal agent during widespread protests against immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles, just hours after one of the faces of President Trump’s enforcement policies took the stand to testify against him.
U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino — the brash agent who led a phalanx of military personnel into MacArthur Park this summer — was called as a witness Wednesday in a federal misdemeanor assault case against Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was accused of striking a federal agent.
Bovino, who flew in to testify from Chicago, the latest city targeted for an immigration enforcement surge, said he witnessed the alleged assault committed by Ramos-Brito in Paramount on June 7.
Bovino was questioned by the defense about previous comments he made referring to undocumented immigrants as “scum.”
The jury came back with the acquittal after a little over an hour of deliberations.
At that point, Morales, a 24-year veteran of the Border Patrol, said he thought he needed to step in and de-escalate the situation between his fellow agent and Ramos-Brito. He did so by shoving Ramos-Brito backward into the intersection, according to video played in court.
The brazen absurdity of the arguments they are making here disgusts me. Glad the jury saw through their bullshit.
They’ve recently decided, amongst themselves in their own memos at least, that “Violence is anything that threatens DHS agents and their safety. It is doxing them. It is videotaping them where they’re at.”
So yea, I’m not really surprised at the ever-growing amount of absurd “assault” claims that continue to be thrown out in court
They’re probably looking at ways to circumvent this. My guess is they’ll rely on delaying the process as long as possible so people are imprisoned for longer before their trial.
