From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

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 rCLassaultingrCY and rCLimpedingrCY 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.

The costs for defendants, even if ultimately exonerated, have been
enormous, with many having their mugshots blasted by the government and
some forced to languish in jail or have criminal charges hang over them
for weeks and months.

The most recent significant fumble came from Minneapolis prosecutors,
who last week dismissed felony assault charges they had filed against
two Venezuelan men accused of rCLviolently beatingrCY an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer rCLwith weaponsrCY on 14 January.

Two of the men were arrested and charged, with a 16 January affidavit providing a vivid account of them attacking an officer identified as ERO
1, referring to ICErCOs enforcement and removal operations. But on 12 February, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss both menrCOs cases,
saying: rCLNewly discovered evidence in this matter is materially
inconsistent with the allegations in the complaint affidavit.rCY

The motion, which a judge granted, sought to have the cases dismissed
rCLwith prejudicerCY, meaning the government could not re-file charges.

US attorneyrCOs offices across the country have faced similar obstacles
and rebukes.

In Chicago, of 92 people arrested for assaulting or impeding officers
last fall, 74 cases have resulted in no charges; in 13 cases, charges
were filed and dismissed; and five charged cases were still pending, a
recent investigation by Fox 9, a Minneapolis-based station, showed. As
of the end of January, there have been no convictions.

In LA, the federal public defenders have won all six cases filed against
ICE protesters that have gone to trial since June, the LA Times recently reported.

rCLThat losing streak is really unheard of,rCY said LA-based defense lawyer Katherine McBroom. She represented Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, an LA
protester who spent six months in jail until a federal judge dismissed
his case with prejudice last week.

Representatives of the other US attorneyrCOs offices and DoJ did not
respond to detailed inquiries about the cases.

The DHS did not respond to inquiries, and the White House declined to
comment.

McBroom said the government was silencing free speech through a
prosecution that depended on multiple officials repeating false
statements. rCLThererCOs a level of terror to this, in that he was being
held in jail for exercising his first amendment rights, and it was a collaborative effort to hide the truth that was keeping him in custody.
ItrCOs terrifying.rCY

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/doj-protesters-federal-agents-cases

Let's hope the Weimar republic, aka Project 2025, lasts only 4 years.
We're not done yet, though.
--
"And off they went, from here to there,
The bear, the bear, and the maiden fair"
-- Traditional

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