The Administration's Favorite Statute

"The videos have become commonplace. Federal officers wearing masks and bulletproof vests subdue a moped driver in the middle of a busy D.C. street. A 70-year-old protester in Chicago is pushed to the ground by an armed Border Patrol agent holding a riot gun. In Los Angeles, an agent shoves away a demonstrator. These videos capture the aggressive tactics of immigration officers under the second Trump administration. But they share something else, too. In each instance, following documented violence by federal officers toward protesters and immigrants, the Justice Department pressed charges-against the victim of that violence."

"As the government continues to attempt mass deportations, that law, Section 111 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, has become a favored tool of the Justice Department for painting opposition to immigration enforcement as a corrosive, lawless force. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security often describe these cases in exaggerated language, even referring to defendants as " domestic terrorists," though the law has nothing to do with terrorism. Across the country, prosecutors have charged case after case in federal court-one against a member of Congress; one against a congressional candidate; another against a bystander who happened to walk by a protest at the wrong time; and, most memorably, another against a Washington, D.C. man who hurled a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer, creating an instant symbol of protest for a city patrolled by the National Guard and other federal forces. I was able to tally more than a hundred prosecutions charged under Section 111 in recent months-and given the difficulty of searching federal court records across more than 90 judicial districts, my data are almost certainly an undercount."

Videos show federal officers in masks and vests using force against moped drivers, elderly protesters, and demonstrators in multiple cities. After documented violence by immigration officers, the Justice Department charged the alleged victims under Section 111 of Title 18, which prohibits 'assaulting, resisting, or impeding' federal officials. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have described defendants in exaggerated terms, sometimes calling them " domestic terrorists," despite no terrorism nexus. Prosecutors filed more than a hundred Section 111 cases nationwide, including against a member of Congress, a congressional candidate, a bystander, and a man who threw a sandwich. The tally is likely an undercount given record-search difficulties across more than 90 judicial districts.

Read at The Atlantic