MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from clashes with federal officers in Minneapolis, including one woman who is accused of biting off an immigration officer’s fingertip.
The three others were charged in connection with threats made to FBI agents after documents containing the agents' personal information was stolen from a vehicle.
According to sworn statements filed in those cases, the FBI agents were investigating
a shooting by an Immigration Customs Enforcement Officer on Jan. 14 when protests made the area unsafe and they had to flee on foot, leaving behind two of their vehicles. The vehicles were vandalized and broken into, and several things were stolen including guns, FBI identification cards and documents that included addresses, phone numbers and other personal information of some FBI employees.
That personal information was then posted on social media, according to the court documents, and that's when the officers began receiving threatening phone calls, text messages and emails.
Claire Louise Feng, 27, is accused of biting off the fingertip of a special agent from Homeland Security Investigations during a Jan. 24 protest that happened after immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti. Feng, who is from St. Paul, Minnesota, was indicted on the charge of assaulting a federal officer resulting in injury.
In an affidavit filed in the case, Homeland Security Investigations special agent Bronson Day said an immigration officer was attempting to arrest another protester when Feng tackled the officer. A Customs and Border Protection officer took Feng to the ground and was trying to secure her arms when Feng bit the officer’s finger through a glove, Day wrote.
The day was very cold and the officer didn’t immediately realize the severity of the injury, Day wrote, but when the officer removed his glove, he realized the tip of his ring finger had been removed, exposing the bone. He was able to get medical attention within an hour, Day wrote.
Feng’s attorney, Kevin C. Riach, said she would fight the charge.
“All you have to do to assess the credibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents when they make allegations like this is to look at yesterday’s dismissal that confirmed ICE agents have made false allegations against a defendant,” Riach said. “We look forward to fighting this case and clearing Ms. Feng’s name.”
Brenna Marie Doyle, 18, of Spokane, Washington, was indicted Thursday on charges of threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer, threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer’s family member and interstate transmission of a threat to injure a person. The indictment alleges she left voice messages on the FBI agent's phone threatening to kill them and their spouse and child.
Doyle hasn't entered a plea yet, and her attorney Robert D. Richman said they were waiting to receive evidence from the government so they can evaluate the case. He noted Doyle lives in Washington state and has never been to Minnesota.
“There is no allegation that she took any steps whatsoever to carry out any of these threats or 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. Neither man has had the opportunity to enter a plea.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
