An American judge was arrested and charged by the FBI after reporting a man against immigration authorities.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was held on Friday morning, local time, in the courtroom where she works.
In a criminal complaint, the US Department of Justice said that Mrs. Dugan refused to turn the man after immigration agents came on April 18 to arrest him and that she tried to help him arrest him by allowing him to go through a jury door.
Mrs. Dugan is responsible for obstructing a procedure and hiding a person to prevent arrest.
A spokesperson for the US Marshals service confirmed that Mrs. Dugan had been arrested and that she would appear later on Friday, local time in the federal court in Milwaukee.
A crowd formed outside the courthouse and sang: “Free the judge now”.
A spokesperson for the FBI could not be reached immediately for comment.
FBI director Kash Patel said that judge Hannah Dugan was arrested in a post on X that was later removed ((Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein))
The arrest comes when the Ministry of Justice has instructed federal prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against local government officials who disrupt the immigration realing of Donald Trump. Such a resistance was widespread during the first term of office of Mr Trump 2017-2021.
FBI director Kash Patel said on social media that the FBI Dugan had arrested for interfering with the attempt to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, which he described as an “illegal alien” now in custody. He later removed that position, which he made against Mrs Dugan before the case, was not closed in the federal court.
The court data of Wisconsin appears that a man with that name who had to deal with crime battery costs with regard to domestic violence in the courtroom of Mrs. Dugan appeared on April 18.
According to the complaint, Mrs. Dugan became “visibly angry” and noted that the situation was “absurd” when she discovered that immigration officials were there to arrest Mr Flores-Ruiz.
Mrs Dugan ordered the immigration officials to talk to the main judge and then supervised Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through a door that led to a non-public area of the courthouse, the complaint said.
Carl Ashley, the main judge of the Milwaukee Court, refused to comment.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, stating sources that did not identify, said that Dugan was sent Mr Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to a private corridor and in a public space, but did not hide the couple in a jury-deliberation room because some accused her of it.
Mr. Trump launched a major action of immigration after taking office in January, explaining a national emergency situation and increasing resources in an attempt to arrest and deport records of record numbers.
Mrs. Dugan was chosen for the first time as a district judge in 2016 and was before the head of the local branch of Catholic charities, which offers resettlement programs for refugees, among other things.
She spent a large part of her early career as a lawyer at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee.
ABC/Reuters
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