Federal judges reject DOJ motion to detain arrested Minnesota protesters: One judge found the Trump administration offered “no factual or legal support” to support its contention that this was a “crime of violence.”

Snippet:

* Judges in Minnesota denied motions by the Trump administration to detain three protesters arrested this week for demonstrating inside a St. Paul church whose pastor allegedly works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
* U.S. District Judge Laura M. Provinzino wrote in her order for two of the protesters, Nekima Valdez Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, that Justice Department lawyers failed to “demonstrate that a detention hearing is warranted, or that detention is otherwise appropriate.”
* The judge found the Trump administration offered “no factual or legal support” to support its contention that this was a “crime of violence.” The third protester, William Scott Kelly, was separately ordered released by a federal magistrate judge.
* Armstrong, Allen and Kelly were charged by criminal complaint in a case that involves an unknown number of defendants. Because not all the defendants are in custody, the criminal affidavit, a sworn statement by an officer used to establish cause for an arrest, is redacted. The case cites the FACE Act, a federal statute that has historically been used to protect reproductive facilities, but also contains provisions that cover houses of worship.
* But records show that the federal magistrate judge found **there was no probable cause to charge Levy Armstrong and Allen on FACE Act charges**, *and they instead face a single count of conspiracy against constitutional rights, a statute with roots in the post-Civil War era. The law makes it a crime to conspire with others to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” anyone exercising their constitutional rights, and was one of the crimes Jack Smith alleged Donald Trump committed in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Kelly also appears now to be facing only one charge of conspiracy against rights.*

Countdown: 284 days till midterms.

And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those pesky judges!

Imagine how fucked shit would be if those dipshits were halfway competent. They’re doing whatever the fuck they want and it seems like the only silver lining is their god damned stupidity. If would already be game over if they knew how to play it

They are being charged with conspiracy against rights. I’m not sure what right this would violate.

Also, this statute seems like the exact one that could be used to charge numerous administration officials and ICE officers and officials all the way up the chain eventually.

From Legalclarity, “The law also addresses conspiracies involving law enforcement officers who misuse their official positions to violate individual rights, such as a group of officers agreeing to use excessive force against a suspect. A historically recognized example is the 1964 prosecution of conspirators who murdered three civil rights workers in Mississippi for attempting to register Black voters.”