Federal prosecutors dropped assault charges on Monday against a man accused of ramming his vehicle into federal agents during an immigration operation outside a Mexican restaurant in Minnesota this month.
The dismissal of the charges against the man, Jose Espinoza-Espinoza, came at a five-minute hearing in Federal District Court in Minnesota where prosecutors did not present any witnesses to establish probable cause that an assault had been committed. The dismissal appeared to be the first time that the Justice Department has backed away from pursuing an assault case against a federal agent in Minnesota since the Trump administration ramped up an immigration crackdown in the state.
Administration officials have repeatedly asserted that federal agents in Minnesota have come have under constant attack as they carry out the White House’s aggressive deportation efforts. Those claims have grown in frequency and volume after immigration officers fatally shot two people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
Mr. Espinoza-Espinoza was taken into custody on Jan. 16 after prosecutors said that several federal agents approached him in his Mazda outside a Mexican restaurant in Virginia, Minn., and he “rapidly accelerated.” Court papers say that Mr. Espinoza-Espinoza injured the finger of one of the agents and drove into the vehicle of another, causing it to leak coolant fluid.
After the agents removed Mr. Espinoza-Espinoza from his car, he resisted arrest by trying to avoid being handcuffed, according to the court papers. He later told investigators that he was from Guatemala and was in the United States illegally, raising the possibility that he could now be deported.
Still, Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois, who oversaw the case, consented to the government’s request to dismiss the charges and ordered Mr. Espinoza-Espinoza to be released from criminal custody.
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.
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