US Prosecutors Fail to Secure Felony Assault Convictions in Protest Cases

The US Justice Department has failed to win felony assault convictions against most of the 102 protesters arrested in four major cities last year, a record well below the norm for federal assault prosecutions.

All twelve cases that went to trial, mostly in Los Angeles, ended in acquittal, mistrial or dismissal. Three remaining felony assault cases, in Los Angeles and Portland, are scheduled for trial this autumn.

The outcome has raised questions about rushed investigations and aggressive charging decisions by prosecutors under pressure to demonstrate a crackdown on people accused of assaulting law enforcement. It comes amid broader setbacks in politically sensitive investigations, with grand juries declining to indict and trial juries returning acquittals.

"Prosecutors tend to win because they control what cases they pursue and they have a lot of resources and discretion," said Mary Fan, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at the University of Washington. The failure to win any felony assault convictions at trial called into question "whether or not these charges should have ever been brought in the first place," she said.

The analysis covered arrests during protests in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. — cities with significant demonstrations where President Donald Trump sought to or successfully deployed the National Guard. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said those who interfered with federal law enforcement would face "severe consequences."

Most of the 102 arrests were for felony assault on a federal officer, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Of those cases, 41 per cent were dismissed and 34 per cent were pleaded down to misdemeanours. Ten people pleaded guilty to felony assault and nine received prison time. Among those arrested on other charges, seven were sentenced to prison for offences including arson and obstructing law enforcement. A handful of defendants entered diversion agreements that will see their cases dismissed if they demonstrate good behaviour.

The record has not meaningfully improved since December, when an initial assessment showed early difficulties in prosecuting the charges for which people were arrested. The Justice Department said federal prosecutors are right to prioritise cases against those accused of assaulting federal officers and that "each case is based on the facts." It added that where mitigating factors are identified, prosecutors must inform the court and in some cases downgrade or drop charges.

Federal prosecutors rarely lose at trial. In 2024, 82 per cent of defendants charged with felony or misdemeanour assault were convicted at trial or through a plea deal, according to Administrative Office of the US Courts data. The analysis found that fewer than half of the protesters charged with either felony or misdemeanour assault were convicted.

In Portland, a jury could not reach agreement on felony assault charges against Oriana Korol, who was playing clarinet in a marching band outside the city's ICE building last October when a scuffle involving officers broke out. Officers pepper sprayed her and pushed her to the ground, where she struck one with her foot, according to court documents. After a mistrial, prosecutors filed a reduced misdemeanour charge. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced on September 1 to time served and one year of supervised release. Her attorneys wrote in a court filing that she "has accepted responsibility for the bad choices she made over a few seconds that caused no injury."

Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer at California State University Channel Islands, was acquitted of assault on a federal officer after a three-day trial. He was accused of throwing a tear gas canister deployed by immigration agents back at them while protesting a raid at a Southern California cannabis farm. Caravello said he was trying to get the canister away from the crowd, and videos showed he had tossed it high above officers' heads and it landed far behind them. The jury acquitted him after a quick deliberation. "They're trying to get a chilling effect out of these charges," said Caravello, who turned down a misdemeanour plea deal.

Michael Rabbitt was among six co-defendants accused of felony conspiracy to impede a government vehicle from accessing an ICE facility near Chicago last September. The vehicle slowly advanced despite being surrounded by protesters, leading some to put their hands on it, Rabbitt said. After the government dismissed charges against two defendants, defence attorneys requested transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to the conspiracy indictment. The government eventually dropped the conspiracy charge and proceeded on misdemeanour counts of impeding a federal officer. The judge later reviewed the unredacted transcripts and admonished prosecutors for improper behaviour before the grand jury. The charges were dismissed days before trial. Rabbitt said he was proud they fought the charges. "This case was bigger than us," he said. "I'm proud that we won this case, not just for us, but for protesters across the country."

Though many federal criminal cases end in plea deals, some legal experts say it is rare for felony assault to be pleaded down and may signal overcharging — filing a more severe initial charge so defendants will be more willing to plead guilty to one with a lighter sentence. "I think when prosecutors bring charges ethically, they should be prepared to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

The US Attorney's office overseeing Los Angeles said it brought the prosecutions in response to a "wave of violence against law enforcement officers who were doing their jobs." It said it voluntarily dismissed charges against some defendants after further investigation. Los Angeles prosecutors have arrested three additional people for felony assault at immigration-related protests this year; one pleaded guilty to a felony and two to misdemeanours. In Chicago, all but one of 19 felony assault cases were dismissed. The US Attorney's offices in the Northern District of Illinois, the District of Columbia and Oregon did not respond to requests for comment.

Separately, a man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a hotel outside Los Angeles where federal authorities were staying was sentenced to five years in prison. Two others received more than three years after pouring lighter fluid on a burning California Highway Patrol vehicle. Federal judges sentenced eight people to decades in prison for their participation in a demonstration outside a detention centre in Texas last July where a police officer was shot in the neck. Three people were convicted at trial of conspiracy to impede or injure an officer for protesting outside a detention facility in Spokane, Washington, last June. The Spokane and Texas cases were not included in the analysis because they did not occur in one of the four cities where Trump tried to or deployed troops.