It’s unusual for a grand jury to decline to indict. But in recent weeks, grand jurors have done just that in the cases of multiple people who were arrested amid President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown in Washington, D.C.
In the latest instance, prosecutors failed to secure an indictment against a woman named Nathalie Rose Jones, who the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia accused of threatening Trump in multiple social media posts.
In August, Jones agreed to speak with Secret Service agents at her home in New York. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. alleged that she called Trump a “nazi” and a “terrorist” during the interview and said she would kill him if she had to and had the opportunity to do so. She again spoke with Secret Service agents the following day, after traveling to D.C. to participate in a protest. Her lawyers said in a motion filed on Monday that she “repeatedly told them she had no intent to harm anyone, including the president, and was in D.C. to attend a peaceful protest.” Prosecutors, however, alleged that Jones admitted to threatening Trump during her previous interview, even as she denied presently wanting to harm him. She allowed agents to search her car, and she had no weapons, according to the motion filed by her lawyers. But agents arrested her on Aug. 16, and prosecutors said Jones confirmed she was the owner of a social media account that posted threats against Trump earlier in the month.
The motion filed by her lawyers revealed that a grand jury has since declined to indict her.
“A grand jury has now found no probable cause to indict Ms. Jones on the charged offenses,” her lawyers wrote. “Given that finding, the weight of the evidence is weak. The government may intend to try again to obtain an indictment, but the evidence has not changed and no indictment is likely. For this reason the Court should release Ms. Jones on her personal recognizance to appear if required.”
Federal grand jurors also declined to indict at least three other people in recent days.
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Three grand juries declined to indict Sidney Lori Reid, who prosecutors alleged assaulted an FBI agent during a protest in D.C. in July. The failure to obtain an indictment prompted federal prosecutors to downgrade the charges against Reid to misdemeanor ones last week.
Also last week, a grand jury declined to indict former Justice Department employee Sean C. Dunn, who was accused of assault on a federal agent after allegedly throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer in D.C. Video footage of the incident, which took place on Aug. 10, went viral online. Prosecutors have since reduced the charges against Dunn to misdemeanor charges.
A few days earlier, a grand jury declined to indict Alvin Summers, who was accused of assaulting a federal officer in D.C. After failing to get the indictment, prosecutors requested that the case be dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they could refile charges against Summers in the future. His lawyers, meanwhile, have requested that the case be dismissed with prejudice, which would prevent the charges from being refiled.
While such rejections from grand juries are a rare occurrence, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles also failed to get indictments in the cases of a number of people who were arrested while participating in protests against the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement actions. Many of the federal charges prosecutors had filed were ultimately dismissed or downgraded to misdemeanor charges.
The decisions come as Trump’s controversial mobilization of federal troops and officers to crack down on American cities faces pushback from local officials and the courts.
A judge on Tuesday ruled that the Trump Administration violated longstanding federal law when it “systematically used armed soldiers” to perform law enforcement tasks after the President deployed National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles. The District of Columbia is mounting a legal challenge against Trump’s takeover of the city, during which more than 1,000 people have been arrested, according to Administration officials. And the mayor of Chicago, which Trump has indicated is “next” in his efforts to combat crime, over the weekend ordered city departments not to cooperate in an anticipated National Guard deployment, saying Chicago “will pursue all available legal and legislative avenues to counter coordinated efforts from the federal government that violate the rights of the City and its residents.”
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