Federal prosecutors ‘coming after’ L.A. protesters. Do some charges encroach on 1st Amendment?

At least 14 people are facing federal charges tied to immigration protests that have roiled L.A. in recent days, with alleged crimes ranging from assaults on officers and possession of explosive devices to conspiracy to impede arrests.

Some are charged in criminal complaints with extremely serious offenses — including hurling a Molotov cocktail at Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies last weekend or throwing cinder blocks at federal law enforcement — but others face prison time for extremely minor skirmishes with immigration agents that one former federal prosecutor called “sad and pathetic.” No one has been indicted thus far.

Officials with the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A. said they expect the number of people charged to increase in coming days, and the FBI has taken to social media asking for the public’s help. During a news conference Wednesday where he accused Emiliano Garduno Galvez, 23, of Paramount, of throwing a Molotov cocktail at sheriff’s deputies during a Saturday protest, U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli promised more prosecutions would come.

U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli speaks at the Capitol in 2023.

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

“We are looking at hundreds of people ... we’re going to take our time, we’re going to identify them,” Essayli said. “We’re coming after all these people. So let’s be clear, this is the beginning, not the end.”

In criminal complaints provided by the U.S. attorney’s office in L.A., federal authorities accused protesters of blocking vehicles, shoving an agent, grabbing another agent’s arm and throwing hard objects believed to be remnants of cinder blocks and rocks toward agents. Among the federal authorities allegedly accosted have been Border Patrol agents.

On Wednesday, prosecutors also announced charges of possessing a destructive device against Wrackkie Quiogue, 27, of Long Beach, and accused two other men of misdemeanor assault against a federal officer. According to the complaint, LAPD officers spotted Quiogue with a Molotov cocktail — a clear bottle with a yellow rag sticking out of it — and as they approached him, he allegedly threw it in the air and attempted to flee.

The decision to charge David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, has drawn the most consternation from the public. The union leader — whose organization represents approximately 750,000 people — is accused of conspiracy to impede an officer.

Huerta was arrested Friday while documenting an immigration enforcement raid in the downtown Fashion District. His detention prompted rallies across the country demanding his release. Union members said he was exercising his 1st Amendment rights. He was released on a $50,000 bond on Monday.

Federal authorities said Huerta deliberately blocked their vehicles, obstructing federal agents’ access to a work site where they were executing a search warrant on Friday. Video of the arrest shows the labor leader pushed by authorities in riot gear until he falls backward, appearing to strike his head on the curb.

Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s attorney, said she’s seen videos circulating of Huerta’s interaction with federal law enforcement and said she saw “no intimidation, no effort to impede the government.”

Bednarski’s comments echo broader concerns with Essayli’s approach to protest prosecutions. Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that, while the cases involving explosives and cinder blocks are certainly “serious crimes,” the lesser offenses such as those alleged against Huerta are meant to send a message to protesters: the rules are different now.

“It’s not the type of charges we usually see come from the federal authorities. I think by bringing these charges they want to send a message that they have zero tolerance,” she said. “Where do you draw the line between an organized protest and a conspiracy to impede? It’ll actually be interesting to see if a grand jury indicts these cases.”

Levenson questioned if Essayli had gone too far in charging Huerta with conspiracy, and she noted that in some cases the allegations seemed focused on demonizing normal protest behavior.

“There are factual issues in these cases, like who pushed whom first. Some of the charges, including with pictures, seem to make a big deal out of how the protesters were making obscene remarks or gestures,” she said. “That’s not illegal. They’re doing that to try and bolster what the intent was here.”

Essayli, a devout Trump supporter and hardcore conservative, also echoed the President’s rhetoric of “if you spit we hit” in announcing another protest-related filing late Wednesday. Omar Pulido Bastida, 41, of Los Angeles, was charged with assault for allegedly spitting at an ICE agent through a door when they tried to arrest him for illegally re-entering the country, according the U.S. attorney’s office.

While viral video has focused on clashes between protesters and state, local and federal agents, the actual number of arrests and criminal charges have been difficult to tally.

Federal prosecutors have brought cases against at least 14 people. While Los Angeles police have arrested hundreds this week on a range of offenses, many are still under review by prosecutors. The bulk of the arrests were for misdemeanor offenses such as failing to disperse or violating curfew, which the L.A. city attorney’s office has typically declined to prosecute. On Wednesday afternoon, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman announced felony charges against eight people for various incidents including assaulting police and burglary.

It’s unclear exactly how many immigrants have been affected, but federal officials confirmed that hundreds have been arrested by ICE officers and agents since Friday.

Protests broke out last Friday as federal authorities served search warrants for four business locations “suspected of unlawfully employing illegal aliens and falsifying employment records related to the status of its employees,” according to the criminal complaint against Huerta.

In an affidavit filed with the complaint, Ryan Ribner, a supervisory special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, accused Huerta of blocking the path of a law enforcement vehicle trying to assist with the search warrant for Ambiance Apparel, a sprawling fast-fashion warehouse. The company was one of the sites of a workplace raid.

Although Ribner wrote that he saw Huerta push back on an officer who put his hands on him in an attempt to move him, Huerta has not been charged with assault.

Criminal complaints reviewed by The Times laid out a range of alleged crimes over the past days, including against sisters Ashley and Joceline Rodriguez, who were arrested tied to a protest in Paramount on Saturday.

Federal authorities allege that the sisters ignored commands to stop blocking Border Patrol agents’ cars. When an agent attempted to move Ashley, she allegedly resisted, broke free and then shoved the agent. Joceline allegedly grabbed an agent’s arm “in an apparent effort to prevent the USBP agent from arresting” Ashley.

Both have been charged with assault on a federal officer.

“There appear to be numerous social media accounts of [the] event that conflict with the account of the agents,” Kenneth Reed, an attorney representing Ashley, said in an email.

Joceline’s attorney, Kate Corrigan, said her client was born and raised in California and is a hardworking college student. She said her client’s conduct “if any, is minimal and not worthy of federal prosecution.”

“This is by no means felony conduct,” Corrigan said.

Also arrested at the Saturday protest was Gisselle Medina, who has been charged with conspiracy to impede an officer. According to the complaint, a man believed to be Medina’s boyfriend threw a rock at the agents and, when they attempted to apprehend him, Medina allegedly jumped in front of an agent, grabbed onto the person “and prevented the arrest.” Medina’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

“She may not have done the right thing but in previous administrations you wouldn’t have necessarily seen that charged as a conspiracy to impede an officer,” Levenson said.

The FBI is still searching for Elpidio Reyna, who was accused of throwing rocks at federal vehicles and injuring one of the agents as they left a command post in Paramount on Saturday.

Among those charged was Russell Gomez Dzul, who was not involved in a protest. Border Patrol agents claimed they approached Gomez on a Los Angeles street because he “appeared startled and nervous when he saw the agents,” and abruptly changed course, “moving away from the agents at accelerating speeds.”

“Based on Gomez’s reaction and movements, Agent O.I. perceived Gomez to be attempting to evade the agents, and suspected Gomez of being in the U.S. illegally,” a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations wrote in an affidavit. None of the agents were named in the complaint.

According to the complaint, the agents ordered Gomez to stop, but he abandoned the bike and fled on foot.

Gomez allegedly physically resisted arrest “by forcefully pulling his arms away from the agents’ grips.” The agents were then able to put him in handcuffs and secure him in a marked Border Patrol vehicle, according to the complaint.

As many as 15 protesters allegedly confronted the agents soon after, according to the complaint. In the affidavit, the HSI agent said that, based on a review of footage of the incident, “protesters were filming on their cell phones, yelling obscenities at the agents, and throwing items at the agents, including rocks.”

In attempting to exit the area, according to the complaint, Agent L.M. opened the rear passenger door of the Border Patrol vehicle where Gomez was seated. When it opened, Gomez allegedly pushed his weight against the door, moved his feet out of the vehicle and attempted to get out.

According to the complaint, in an interview with a Border Patrol agent later, Gomez said he ran away from the agents on instinct when he saw the “cop car.”

Essayli tried to draw a clear line between encroaching on the 1st Amendment and criminal activity in speaking to reporters Wednesday.

“You have the right to peacefully protest, no one’s going to stop you, but as soon as you cross that line into violence, you’re throwing stuff, you’re throwing rocks, you’re throwing bombs, that’s unacceptable, it will not be tolerated,” he said. “We’re going to come down with a really heavy hand.”