String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’
Department of Justice prosecutors across the US have suffered a string of embarrassing defeats in their aggressive pursuit of criminal cases against people accused of “assaulting” and “impeding” federal officers.
In recent months, the federal government has relentlessly prosecuted protesters, government critics, immigrants and others arrested during immigration operations, often accusing them of physically attacking officers or interfering with their duties.
But many of those cases have recently been dismissed or ended in not guilty verdicts.
In several high-profile cases, the prosecutions fell apart because they relied on statements by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers that had no supporting evidence or in some instances were proven by video footage to be blatantly false.
If an “officer” says something in court it’s usually a fucking lie.
ACAB
Somehow, I don’t think that ice or the doj feels that these defeats are all that embarrassing.
Arresting the protesters and making them go through the system, even if they are found not to be guilty, is a significant punishment in itself.
There should be repercussions for the ice agents and prosecutors when this is happening repeatedly.
Get rid of qualified immunity for ICE and this all goes away in a hurry.
Would really like to get rid of it entirely.
