ICE Agent Arrested for Assault in CO   04/23 06:11

   

   (AP) -- The decision in Colorado to charge an immigration officer with 
assault after a protester was grabbed by the neck and pulled across a street 
could test the boundaries of immunity provisions for federal agents as states 
scrutinize the use of force under the Trump administration's immigration 
crackdown.

   A Colorado prosecutor said Wednesday that the officer has been charged with 
third-degree assault and criminal mischief following an investigation into the 
treatment of a protester in October.

   Multiple videos show a masked federal agent seizing a 57-year-old woman, who 
says she was put in a chokehold, during the protest in Durango.

   Colorado is among several states to prohibit or severely limit the use of 
chokeholds and neck restraints by police officers. But immunity provisions 
under the U.S. Constitution and federal law limit the reach of local 
authorities in prosecuting federal agents.

   Here's what to know:

   Investigations underway in Minnesota and Chicago

   The Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics have spurred an 
array of investigations by state and local authorities.

   Earlier this month, a federal immigration agent was charged with two counts 
of second-degree assault by a county prosecutor in Minnesota amid 
investigations into the actions of several officers during the immigration 
crackdown in the Minneapolis area.

   Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. is 
accused of pointing his gun at occupants of a car after pulling alongside them 
on a Minneapolis-area highway. Investigators say Morgan said he feared for his 
safety after the vehicle swerved in front of him.

   Minnesota officials also have sued the administration for access to evidence 
for investigations into three shootings during the crackdown, including those 
that resulted in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

   Outside Chicago, an off-duty ICE agent has been charged with misdemeanor 
battery for throwing to the ground a 68-year-old protester who was filming him 
at a gas station in December. The Homeland Security Department that oversees 
ICE says the agent acted in self-defense.

   In California, the shooting death of 43-year-old Keith Porter by an off-duty 
ICE agent on New Year's Eve has prompted protests and calls for an independent 
investigation.

   Federal officers and the supremacy clause

   Federal law enforcement officers have broad legal protections when acting in 
the course of their official duties, and the Justice Department has taken a 
hard line against state efforts to arrest or prosecute federal agents.

   Late last year, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said arrests of 
federal officers performing their duties would be "illegal and futile," citing 
the Constitution's supremacy clause and federal law.

   Legal experts say those protections are significant but not absolute and 
that the supremacy clause does not provide blanket immunity.

   In a statement on the Colorado charges, a spokesperson for the Department of 
Homeland Security, which includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said 
states do not have the authority to investigate such cases.

   "Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be 
investigated by other Federal agencies," the statement said.

   Conduct by ICE officers is under additional scrutiny amid a rapid hiring 
spree and evidence that applicants with questionable histories were not fully 
vetted.

   Flashpoint in Colorado mountain town

   The altercation in Colorado arose from demonstrations over the detention on 
Oct. 27 of three Colombian asylum-seekers -- a man and two children -- while 
they were on their way to school in the morning. In late October, protesters 
gathered outside an ICE facility in Durango, a college town and destination for 
outdoor recreation in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

   Multiple videos show a masked federal agent placing Franci Stagi in what she 
described as a chokehold. Chokeholds have been at the center of public 
discourse and state legislative initiatives about what constitutes an 
unreasonable use of force since Eric Garner died in New York in 2014 after he 
was put in a chokehold by a police officer.

   Stagi, a retired hypnotherapist, said she reached for the agent's shoulder 
to get his attention and that he then grabbed her by the hair, put her neck in 
the crook of his arm and carried her across the street by her head before 
throwing her down an embankment next to the street.

   Court documents allege that Customs and Border Protection officer Nicholas 
Rice committed third-degree assault by causing bodily injury to Stagi, but the 
documents don't describe how she was injured or make mention of a chokehold. 
Court documents didn't list any attorney as representing the officer.

   A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which launched its 
own investigation, didn't immediately respond to questions about the charges.

   Stagi says she's disappointed Rice was charged with less serious crimes but 
hopes the prosecution sends a message that immigration officers can't tackle 
people indiscriminately and use excessive force.