Federal authorities are now filing misdemeanor charges against David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California, who was arrested during the first day of a series of immigration raids that swept the region.
Prosecutors initially brought a charge of conspiracy to restrain an officer from prosecuting Huerta, accusing him of blocking federal authorities from executing a search warrant at a Los Angeles workplace and arresting dozens of undocumented immigrants on June 6.
On Friday, court documents show federal prosecutors filed a lesser charge against Huerta of “resisting obstruction or opposition of a federal officer,” punishable by up to a year in federal prison. The crime he was previously accused of could have put him behind bars for up to six years.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles declined to comment.
In a statement, Huerta’s attorneys, Father David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, said they would “seek the quickest possible trial to vindicate David.” The lawyers said that “in the four months since David’s arrest, it has become even clearer that there was no basis to charge him and certainly none for the way he was treated.”
“It is clear that David Huerta is being singled out not for what he did but for who he is – a longtime advocate for workers who has been an outspoken critic of his immigration policies. These accusations are a clear attempt to silence a prominent voice that dared to challenge a cruel, politically driven fear campaign,” the statement read.
The union previously said Huerta was arrested “while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activities.” Huerta is one of more than 60 people federally charged in the Central District of California in connection with anti-immigration protests and enforcement actions.
Two recent misdemeanor trials against protesters accused of assaulting a federal agent both ended in acquittals. Some protesters have reached plea deals.
In a statement released Friday, Huerta said he was “targeted for exercising his constitutional rights by opposing an administration that has declared open war on working families, immigrants and basic human dignity.”
“The baseless accusations against me are not just about me, they are intended to intimidate anyone who dares to speak out, organize or demand justice. I will not be silenced,” he said.
Huerta was held for several days at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, prompting thousands of unionists, activists and supporters to rally for his release. California Democratic Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla also sent a letter to the Homeland Security and Justice departments demanding a review of Huerta’s arrest.
A judge ordered Huerta released in June on $50,000 bail.
The case against Huerta centers on a June 6 workplace immigration raid at Ambiance Apparel. According to the initial criminal complaint filed, Huerta arrived at the scene around noon Friday, joining several other protesters.
Huerta and other protesters “appeared to be communicating with each other in a concerted effort to disrupt law enforcement operations,” a federal agent wrote in the complaint.
The agent wrote that Huerta was yelling and taunting the officers, then sat cross-legged in the doorway of a vehicle at the location where law enforcement was executing a search warrant.
Huerta “also stood up and paced in front of the gate several times, thereby preventing law enforcement vehicles from entering or exiting the premises through the gate to execute the search warrant,” the agent wrote in the affidavit.
The officer wrote that they told Huerta that if he continued to block the Ambiance door, he would be arrested.
According to the complaint, as a white law enforcement van attempted to drive through the gate, Huerta stepped in its path.
Because Huerta “was not cooperative, the officer placed his hands on HUERTA in an attempt to move him out of the path of the vehicle.”
“I saw HUERTA push back, and in response, the officer pushed HUERTA to the ground,” the officer wrote. “The police officer and I then handcuffed HUERTA and arrested him.”
According to a statement from SEIU-United Service Workers West, the SEIU California State Council and the Service Employees International Union, “Huerta was thrown to the ground, tackled, pepper-sprayed and detained by federal agents while exercising his constitutional rights during an ICE raid in Los Angeles. » The video of his arrest went viral.
“Despite the harsh treatment meted out to David by law enforcement, he now faces an unjust charge,” the statement said. “This administration has turned the military against our own people, terrorizing entire communities and even arresting American citizens who are exercising their constitutional right to express themselves. »
Acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli posted a photo on the social networking site X of Huerta with his hands behind his back after the arrest.
“Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are – if you obstruct federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted,” Essayli wrote. “No one has the right to assault, obstruct or interfere with federal authorities in the exercise of their duties.”
In an interview with Sacramento news outlet KCRA last month, Essayli called Huerta a “crony” of Gov. Gavin Newsom and said he “deliberately obstructed a search warrant.”
When speaking with reporters in June, Schiff said Huerta was “exercising his legal right to be present and observe these immigration raids.”
“This is obviously a very traumatic thing, and now that the Justice Department seems to want to try to make an example of him, it’s even more traumatic,” Schiff said. “But that’s part of Trump’s strategy. They’re selectively using the Justice Department to go after their adversaries. That’s what they’re doing.”
