The federal prosecutor faced the jury, brandishing the item he said had been “used as a sword” to assault a federal officer during a July protest in downtown Los Angeles.
The object that Assistant U.S. Atty. Patrick Kibbe said was wielded as a weapon: An umbrella that an investigator needed a special scale to weigh because it was less than one pound.
For months, Trump administration officials have cited violence against federal law enforcement officers carrying out the president’s deportation campaign as justification for aggressive tactics, including threats to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines. The Department of Homeland Security has touted a staggering figure, claiming a 1,000% increase in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
But a Times analysis of court records related to assaults on federal law enforcement in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Ore., Chicago and Washington, D.C., shows the majority of the alleged attacks resulted in no injury to an agent. In roughly 42% of the cases The Times reviewed, federal law enforcement officers were either shoved, spat on or flailed at, or had water bottles thrown at them, according to court affidavits.
During the umbrella assault trial in October, prosecutors provided no evidence of any injuries. In L.A. and across the country, defendants accused of assaulting federal officers have won acquittals or had charges dropped. More than a third of the cases The Times analyzed ended in dismissals or acquittals, in some instances because the defendants were deported. No cases have ended in a conviction at trial.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, responded to questions from The Times about the assault numbers with a statement that said “our officers are facing terrorist attacks, being shot at, having cars being used as weapons against them, bomb threats, assaults, doxxing.”
McLaughlin highlighted a case in which she said an ICE officer needed 13 stitches and suffered burns after he was beaten with a metal coffee cup by an undocumented immigrant in Houston last month. In another that she flagged, an alleged gang member in Nebraska brutally beat an ICE agent in June, leaving them hospitalized with serious head injuries.
Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, responded to questions from The Times with a statement that said “our officers are facing terrorist attacks, being shot at, having cars being used as weapons against them, bomb threats, assaults, doxxing.”
(Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)
President Trump invoked the 1,000% increase figure in a memo directing federal law enforcement groups to investigate “domestic terrorism,” and federal officials have cited the number repeatedly to justify aggressive tactics against protesters and the need for agents to wear masks to avoid being identified.
Homeland Security officials ignored multiple requests to release a complete list of alleged assaults. In late November, the agency announced a 1,153% increase in assaults on ICE agents from Jan. 21 to Nov. 21, with 238 reported assaults this year compared to 19 in the same time frame in 2024.
The five jurisdictions The Times analyzed were the federal districts where the Trump administration has conducted large-scale law enforcement and immigration operations or threatened to deploy the military because of the supposed danger faced by federal agents. In those areas, 163 cases of assault of a federal officer had been filed between Jan. 21 and Nov. 21. That’s up from 129 in the same areas and time frame in 2024, an increase of 26%. An NPR analysis came up with a similar figure earlier this year.
The 2024 data is also inflated by the filing of assault charges by prosecutors in Washington against rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has pardoned all of those defendants.
The Times analysis captured assaults against all types of federal officers. ICE or Border Patrol agents were described as victims in about 60% of those cases.
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the government is relying on the shocking percentages, without proper context, to advance a narrative.
“They are justifying why they need to use extreme force against the people they’re arresting and the public as they interact with individuals on the street,” he said. “I think that’s the primary purpose, to say: ‘We’re under attack. We’re being assaulted daily and therefore we need to be able to use extreme force including military support.’”
In just over half of the cases scrutinized by The Times, court records show the officer who was allegedly assaulted suffered no physical injury. In roughly 30% of the cases, officers sustained minor injuries such as bruising following a punch, kick or bite.
Twenty-six incidents resulted in a serious injury or required an agent to seek medical attention. A Portland ICE agent was smashed in the head with a rock, federal agents suffered dislocated or fractured fingers in Los Angeles and some agents said they were attacked with their own batons or stun guns while trying to detain people.
Protesters at an anti-ICE demonstration at Los Angeles City Hall on June 15.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
The Times’ analysis does not capture serious incidents in other jurisdictions, or attacks where no charges were filed. Assailants have opened fire twice this year on ICE facilities in Texas, though the people struck by bullets were immigrant detainees and a local police officer.
The only documented incident in which a federal law enforcement officer was shot during an immigration enforcement action this year happened in Los Angeles in October — when a bullet from an ICE agent’s gun ricocheted into a deputy marshal’s hand during a vehicle stop.
One National Guard member was killed and another was seriously wounded in a shooting in Washington last week. Both were part of Trump’s anti-crime deployment. Officials have said the gunman is from Afghanistan and was admitted to the U.S. in 2021 as part of a Biden administration program to help people fleeing the Taliban, and his asylum application was approved under Trump.
An undocumented immigrant from Mexico was also arrested after allegedly shooting at Border Patrol agents in Chicago on Nov. 8, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A local Fox News affiliate identified the suspect as Hector Gomez, but a criminal complaint makes no mention of shooting at agents. DHS did not respond to inquiries from the Fox affiliate.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) is among those questioning the administration’s claims. During a Nov. 19 subcommittee hearing titled “ICE Under Fire: The Radical Left’s Crusade Against Immigration Enforcement,” Padilla asked why there were no government witnesses “providing facts and data behind the numbers that the Department of Homeland Security so often cites to claim an increase in assaults on its officers and agents.”
“Today’s hearing is not a serious attempt to protect law enforcement,” Padilla said. “It’s designed to fuel the propaganda machine and encourage even more brutal immigration enforcement operations.”
The purported weapons used in some of the cases have only fueled skepticism: A District of Columbia man was charged for throwing a Subway sandwich. In Portland, a woman was charged with assault via tambourine. In L.A., federal agents have claimed assaults involving a hat, a work bag, a flag — and the umbrella.
On June 7 — in the early days of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in California — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino stood in Paramount, sounding like he was preparing his officers for battle.
Bovino, addressing agents decked out in tactical gear as protesters gathered nearby, told the agents to “arrest as many people that touch you as you want to, those are the general orders all the way to the top.”
“Everybody f— gets it if they touch you,” Bovino said. “This is our f— city.”
The National Guard was deployed the next day, with Trump publicly claiming Los Angeles was under siege.
The clip of Bovino was played during the trial of Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was accused of pushing a Border Patrol agent that day in Paramount. Video evidence shows an agent shove Ramos-Brito, but does not clearly capture him shoving the agent back.
Bovino testified that merely touching an agent “could be assault depending on the situation. Spitting on someone could be assault.”
After about an hour of deliberations — and despite Bovino testifying that he witnessed Ramos-Brito push an agent — the jury came back with a not guilty verdict.
In Los Angeles, court records show federal prosecutors have charged 71 people with assault on a federal officer this year, with 21 of those cases ending in dismissals or acquittals. Only nine such cases were filed in 2024.
Bill Essayli, who is functioning as L.A.’s top federal prosecutor, said he would not “read too much” into dismissal figures.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
During an October news conference, Bill Essayli, who is functioning as L.A.’s top federal prosecutor, said he would not “read too much” into the dismissal figures.
“When we charge a complaint we’re on the clock, so if the agents need more time to collect evidence sometimes we will dismiss a case without prejudice which allows us to bring it back at our choosing,” he said.
A former ICE official, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, said that in prior years the U.S. attorney’s office “didn’t prosecute hardly anybody” for assault — unless the interaction turned violent.
“We’d get guys who would spit on us and all kinds of other stuff and it was like, ‘Hey, it’s part of the job,’” the official said.
Law enforcement experts noted that an increase in assaults is to be expected, since interactions by immigration agents with the public have increased dramatically in Trump’s second term.
John Sandweg, who headed ICE under President Obama, said he believes new tactics are helping drive the increase. Under previous administrations, ICE focused on targeted operations.
“When you shift those tactics and have agents out there in broad daylight, in Home Depot parking lots, when you have these cities on edge … it’s just going to increase the number of incidents where some sort of an assault happens,” he said.
In a number of cases examined by The Times, defendants were arrested and charged with assault after Border Patrol or ICE agents initiated physical contact.
Andrea Velez, a 4-foot 11-inch U.S. citizen, was accused of standing in the path of an ICE officer in downtown L.A. with her arms extended, striking his head and chest when they collided in June. Her defense attorney previously said masked men ran at Velez and one shoved her to the ground. Velez, fearing she was being abducted, held up her work bag to shield herself.
Velez’s lawyer requested body-worn camera video and witness statements cited in the complaint. Soon after, prosecutors dropped the case.
In Chicago, four assault cases were filed against protesters who ignored a dispersal order outside an immigration detention facility and flailed in response to being shoved or struck by Border Patrol agents. One of the defendants was a 70-year-old military veteran. All charges have been dropped, records show.
Courtesy of attorney Kacey McBroom
In another L.A. case, a man was accused of assault for smacking an agent with a hat. Video footage from the scene in August showed the man, Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, swung after he was struck by a government vehicle, as officers were moving to tackle him to the ground.
In October, Marimar Martinez was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent who alleged she was following him in a car and interfering with a Chicago operation. Martinez allegedly collided with a CBP vehicle, causing minor damage, according to photos included in a criminal complaint.
But in a sudden turnabout a month later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment against Martinez. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Illinois said in a statement that prosecutors are “constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations.”
Martinez’s attorney, Damon Cheronis, thanked prosecutors for doing the right thing after reviewing what he called Border Patrol’s hyperbolic claims against Martinez.
“The criminal complaint made a lot of allegations that our client rammed them. There were all these reports that our client had an assault weapon or was a domestic terrorist,” he said. “None of that was true.”
Homeland Security officials have also claimed a 1,300% increase in vehicle attacks against ICE agents; the 28 alleged attacks this year since Jan. 20 marked a jump from two in 2024.
Protesters rally in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. for immigrant rights, to stop mass deportations and decrying what they see as threats to democracy.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Of the 26 alleged vehicle attacks captured by The Times analysis, five resulted in serious injuries. A member of a Homeland Security task force was hospitalized with a “possible sternum fracture” after being hit by a car in November in National City, just outside of San Diego, according to DHS.
A handful of other L.A. cases resulted in officers seeking medical evaluation. One ICE agent needed medical attention after they were hit with a skateboard while trying to make an arrest in downtown L.A. in September, records show.
The month before, Oscar Magana Reyes, who was allegedly trying to flee an immigration arrest in San Bernardino, stole an ICE agent’s Taser and briefly incapacitated them with a shock to the groin. Reyes was indicted in October and is awaiting trial.
Although more incidents are being reported, available data still shows local law enforcement officers are far more likely to be attacked in the line of duty than immigration agents. L.A. County sheriff’s deputies faced roughly 600 assaults from January to October of this year, more than double the number of alleged on-duty assaults ICE agents suffered nationwide from Jan. 21 to Nov. 21, according to sheriff’s department records.
Charis Kubrin, a professor of law, criminology and sociology at UC Irvine, said the administration’s trumpeting of a more than 1,000% increase is misleading when the jump is coming from a baseline of almost zero assaults against agents.
“This is what we call in sociology a moral panic,” she said. “A moral panic is created when statistics and other things are used to kind of create or socially construct a problem that is bigger than it is.”
Alexandria Augustine sits for a portrait at her home in West Hollywood. Augustine recently won her court case after being arrested while protesting ICE outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center for allegedly assaulting a federal officer.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The trial of Alexandria Augustine, the 25-year-old woman accused of assaulting a federal officer with her umbrella, played out over the course of several days in October.
Augustine told The Times she was offered different plea deals in the course of a few months, but decided to take her chances before a jury.
“The entire purpose of a lot of this is to keep people off the streets and hold them up in the courts,” she said. “They don’t expect us to fight back because they have way more resources and power than we do.”
During the trial, Kibbe, the prosecutor, held up the metal skeleton of the umbrella and told jurors that Augustine had hit a Federal Protective Service inspector with it in the arm and chest.
Deputy federal public defender Aden Kahssai said Augustine opened the umbrella to protect fellow protesters. It was the federal officer, she said, who grabbed the umbrella, yanking the fabric off.
“What happened here was not an assault,” Kahssai told jurors.
When Inspector Alexandro Gutierrez took the stand, he testified that he had grabbed the umbrella because it obstructed his view. He testified that Augustine then told him “if you f—ing want it, here,” and then threw it at him in an overhand motion.
“These things could potentially cause serious harm,” he told jurors. He testified that he wasn’t wearing a face shield and the metal ribs of the umbrella could have poked him in the eye.
Among those who turned out for Augustine’s trial was Margaret Ortiz, an Army combat veteran who had been charged with assault after the fabric of a black flag she was holding hit a federal officer in the chin, nose and eyes. The case against her was later dismissed.
“I kind of wanted it to go to trial,” Ortiz said outside the courtroom. “It was going to be stupid, just like this.”
During closing arguments, Supervising Deputy Federal Public Defender Rebecca Abel said Augustine had thrown the umbrella up and it dropped down and connected with Gutierrez. The umbrella, she said, “couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a 260-pound man” in a Kevlar vest.
“It barely touched him. He was not injured,” Abel said. “This case began with a protest … it should never have ended here, in a federal courtroom.”
Within hours, the jury came back with its verdict: Not guilty.
Times researcher Cary Schneider and Data and Graphics reporter Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
