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A joint ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigation found that federal charges of assaulting ICE and CBP agents, filed against more than 300 protesters during 2025 immigration enforcement actions, fell apart when tested. Many involved no physical contact at all.
“A joint ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigation found that federal charges of assaulting ICE and CBP agents, filed against more than 300 protesters during 2025 immigration enforcement actions, fell apart when tested. Many involved no physical contact at all.”
In 2025, as the Trump administration escalated immigration enforcement operations, federal prosecutors filed assault charges against more than 300 people who had gathered near ICE and CBP operations. The charges carried federal felony exposure. The optics were clear: these were dangerous agitators attacking federal law enforcement.
A joint investigation by ProPublica and FRONTLINE reviewed court documents, body camera footage, and charging materials across dozens of cases. The pattern they documented: a significant portion of the "assault" charges described conduct that involved no physical contact with any agent. Protesters were charged for standing near agents, for yelling, for filming.
The investigation found that when cases reached judges — or when defense attorneys filed motions requiring the government to produce evidence — prosecutors dropped charges at a rate that had no parallel in routine federal assault prosecutions. Some cases were dismissed before arraignment. Others were declined by grand juries. The conviction rate on the filed cases was a fraction of normal federal prosecution averages.
Federal assault on a federal officer is a category of charge that is difficult to contest without resources. It triggers pretrial detention arguments. It creates pressure to plead. ProPublica and FRONTLINE documented what the charging statistics, without case-level review, could not: the charges were the punishment, not the outcome.
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