SPOKANE, Wash – A jury is now seated for the federal trial of the so-called Spokane 3, a trio of protesters charged with conspiring to injure federal officers during a protest at a Spokane ICE facility last summer.
Nine people originally faced indictment related to the protest; six defendants took plea deals earlier this year.
Justice Forral, Jac Dalitso Archer and Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II did not take deals and are on trial together.
The protest started when former city council president Ben Stuckart alerted people that ICE had detained two men from Venezuela and were preparing to transport them to a detention facility in western Washington.
People came down to try to stop them and the protest spread into the streets.
Federal prosecutors say protesters used trash cans, signs and benches to block ICE officers and vehicles from leaving the facility.
Opening statements began Tuesday afternoon.
The federal judge gave the 12 jury members and three alternates their instructions.
That included the standards for proving whether Archer, Malvalwalla and Forral are guilty of conspiracy to impede or injure officers.
The judge said prosecutors must prove there was an agreement between them to prevent law enforcement from doing their jobs by force or intimidation.
In opening arguments, defense attorneys said there may have been some civil disobedience at the June 11th protest, but that their clients encouraged protesters to remain peaceful.
Prosecutors called their first witness this afternoon, an FBI agent who reviewed video for the investigation.
The agent was asked to describe part of the video in court and said Archer was holding a clipboard and helping to organize protesters, but the defense objected to that.
The video footage also showed Malvalwalla parking his car in front of an ICE bus that was expected to transport two detainees to a facility in Tacoma.
Justice Forral’s attorney said he never gave instructions to other protesters and Malvalwalla’s attorney said he never used force or threats to intimidate law enforcement.
Malvalwalla is expected to take the witness stand during this trial.
Video evidence from SPD’s drones, body camera footage and video posted to social media were all reviewed by federal investigators in this case.
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