(The Center Square) – A federal judge ruled Tuesday that three defendants facing charges for their role in a protest in Spokane last June will go to trial in May, throwing out their motions to dismiss the case.
Last June, local law enforcement arrested dozens of people after a protest at a federal facility resulted in demonstrators blocking agents from leaving and allegedly damaging a transport vehicle. The Trump administration then indicted nine of the protesters about a month later on federal conspiracy charges.
Six of the defendants have taken a plea deal, including Ben Stuckart, the former Spokane City Council president, who called on people to prevent agents from transferring immigrants to a facility in Tacoma.
The protest against the Trump administration’s immigration agenda coincided with demonstrations in Seattle, Portland and other major cities. Rather than take a deal from the Department of Justice, Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II filed various motions to potentially dismiss the charges.
Judge Rebecca Pennell granted motions on Tuesday, allowing the three defendants to join each other’s attempts to dismiss the case, but ultimately ruled against them, sending their case to trial on May 18.
The three defendants’ attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The DOJ charged all nine defendants with conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, with two who took plea deals also charged with assault on a federal officer, employee or person assisting an officer. Those deals allowed the courts to defer sentencing under a guilty plea, with the possibility of dismissing the case or reducing the charges later if each defendant complied with the conditions that they agreed to.
Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Archer filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, arguing that the conduct alleged in the indictment was protected by the First Amendment. The DOJ argued that it went beyond a constitutionally protected protest, alleging that the defendants blocked a transport van from leaving the federal facility, deflated its tires and piled objects in front of the exits to stop the agents.
Forrall filed a different motion, though all three of the defendants joined each other’s motions, arguing that the federal personnel involved are not actual “officers.” He also claimed that the indictment lacked specificity and that the phrasing “objects” is legally insufficient. The DOJ called the motion “meritless.”
The court will hold a pretrial conference on May 5 and also consider motions that day by acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche seeking to exclude certain defense arguments and evidence at trial.
He wants the court to exclude arguments about whether the demonstration was a constitutionally protected protest, and references to other major immigration-related protests, claims of political influence, former acting U.S. Attorney Richard Baker, who resigned days before the indictment, and arguments that two Venezuelan immigrants whose transport sparked the protest were here legally.
