DOJ Blocked ICE Agent Shooting Charge over Federal Prosecutor's Objections (propublica.org)

54 pointsby paimapi18 hours ago11 comments

paimapi 18 hours ago

> Federal prosecutors in Minnesota had been preparing to charge Castro with deprivation of rights under color of law for the shooting of Sosa-Celis, according to several people familiar with the case. [But] late on Tuesday, Matthew Evans, the assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota in charge of the case, told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and other victims to prepare for Castro to be charged “only with False Statements."

> “This is being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney,” Evans wrote in a remarkably candid account of internal deliberations. “I objected in the strongest possible terms and fought it as hard as I could. It wasn’t enough.”

>[...] DHS originally said Castro and the other agent were ambushed by the men and beaten with a shovel or broomstick, making Castro fear for his life and fire in self-defense. The next month, however, they dropped the charges against [the agents], and the DHS backed off its narrative in a rare admission of possible wrongdoing of its officers. “Video evidence has revealed the sworn testimony of the two agents appeared to be false,” then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons said in a statement.

platinumrad 18 hours ago

Are there consequences for lying in sworn testimony?

lesuorac 18 hours ago

Pretty much no.

See every false dmca filing ever.

Even Martha Stewart was "obstruction of justice" for providing incorrect answers that the prosecuters already knew the correct answer to.

cucumber3732842 17 hours ago

Martha Stewart is probably the textbook example of someone getting screwed on these sorts of charges considering they were questions she answered in good faith and she wasn't even the subject of the investigation.

Never happens if you're working for the government though.

CamperBob2 17 hours ago

If you're not a cop, you'd better believe there are consequences.

jmspamerton 18 hours ago

Sounds like Mr Ellison wants to start another set of riots just before an election.

pinneycolton 17 hours ago

How so? I didn't see any statements from Ellison cited in the article.

josefritzishere 16 hours ago

impunity rarely improves the behavior of armed federal agents.

jmspamerton 18 hours ago

What does this have to do with "Hacker News"?

CamperBob2 17 hours ago

ProPublica are hackers in the best sense of the word -- inquisitive, resourceful, resilient in the face of institutional and societal restrictions.

I don't always agree with their spin on things -- in fact I often actively disagree with whatever they're pushing at the moment -- but I'm glad they're there. We need them badly these days, and many more investigative journalism outlets like them, now that the MSM has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump Organization.

paimapi 16 hours ago

in the communities where I am, there are small 'hacker' collectives where people are working on combating surveillance, providing alternative non-surveilled software solutions, and helping other movement folks set-up and adopt less-worse platforms (eg moving off Google to CryptPad)

I think its worthwhile for those of us who are involved in this kind of work to be aware of further descent into fascistic tendencies (ie no policing accountability for repressive violence). the stakes are high and always rising and, accordingly, our risk assessments and threat modeling should stay updated to match

and for people who may disagree with the current regime's politics, it's also healthy to stay apprised of the erosion of your own civil liberties, and the potential downstream effects it might have on your life