MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from an altercation with federal officers in Minneapolis, including a woman accused of biting an immigration officer’s finger.
Three others were charged with threatening FBI agents after documents containing the agents’ personal information were stolen from the vehicle.
According to affidavits filed in those cases, FBI agents were investigating the Jan. 14 shooting of an Immigration Customs Enforcement officer when protests made the area unsafe and they were forced to abandon their two vehicles and flee on foot. Vehicles were broken into and ransacked, and firearms, FBI identification cards and documents containing addresses, phone numbers and other personal information of FBI employees were stolen.
That personal information was then posted on social media, according to court documents, and that’s when authorities began receiving threatening phone calls, text messages and emails.
Claire Louise Feng, 27, is accused of biting off the finger of a Homeland Security Investigations special agent during protests after the Jan. 24 shooting death of Alex Pretty by immigration officials. Feng, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was charged with assaulting a federal officer.
In an affidavit filed in the case, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Bronson Day said an immigration officer was trying to arrest another protester when Feng chased the officer. A Customs and Border Protection officer took Feng to the ground and was trying to secure his weapon when Feng bit the officer’s finger with his claw, Day wrote.
The day was very cold and the officer did not immediately realize the severity of the injury, Day wrote, but when the officer removed his gloves, he realized that the tip of his ring finger had been removed, exposing the bone. He was able to receive medical treatment within an hour, Day wrote.
Feng’s attorney, Kevin C. Riach said she will fight the charges.
“What you have to do to assess the credibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents when they make allegations like that is to look at yesterday’s dismissal that ICE agents made false allegations against the defendant,” Riach said. “We look forward to fighting this case and clearing Ms. Feng’s name.”
Breanna Marie Doyle, 18, of Spokane, Washington, was charged Thursday with threats to kill a federal law enforcement officer, threats to kill a family member of a federal law enforcement officer and interstate transmission of threats to injure a person. The indictment alleges he left voice messages on FBI agents’ phones threatening to kill them and their husband and child.
Doyle has not yet entered a plea, and his attorney, Robert D. Richman said they were waiting to receive evidence from the government so they could assess the case. He noted that Doyle lives in Washington state and has never been to Minnesota.
“There is no allegation that he took any steps to carry out any of these threats or to come within a thousand miles of the agent,” Richman said.
James Patrick Lyons, 45, of California, was indicted on five counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure a person, and Jose Alberto Ramirez, 29, of Illinois, was indicted on one count of the same charge. Both men are accused of sending threatening text messages to FBI employees.
Attorneys for Ramirez and Lyons did not immediately respond to messages requesting comment. No one has had an opportunity to enter the petition.
___
Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
While the market has been running strong for the past few years, that doesn't mean…
By Phil Stewart and Idris AliWASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. military is preparing…
Frankfurt, K. - Was the reported $6,000 spending for a Lexington Legends baseball game an…
Energy stocks has increased to 2026, driven by a confluence of favorable factors. Oil prices…
By Nicole Jao, Sharik Khan, Marianna Parraga and Arathi Somshekhar NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters)…
More experts are weighing in on the investigation into the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother,…