FBI Arrests Judge Accused of Shielding an Immigrant

The FBI arrested a county judge in her Milwaukee courthouse on Friday and accused her of trying to shield an immigrant from arrest—a move seen as a dramatic escalation in the legal fight over deportations, reports the New York Times.

• The judge: Agents arrested Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday morning—the first known instance of the Justice Department going after a local official for alleged interference in an immigration arrest, reports the Washington Post.
• Why? The FBI arrested Dugan "on charges of obstruction—after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week," wrote FBI director Kash Patel on Twitter. "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse ... to evade arrest." Patel deleted his tweet after posting it.

• Details: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, citing sources, reports that Dugan's arrest revolves around Mexican immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. When federal immigration agents came to the county courthouse to arrest him on April 18, "Dugan directed the defendant and his attorney to a side door in the courtroom, directed them down a private hallway and into the public area on the 6th floor," per the story.
• More on him: Flores-Ruiz apparently did not escape: Records show he is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Dodge Detention Facility in Alaska, according to the Journal Sentinel. The 30-year-old faced deportation on three misdemeanor battery counts. He had been at the courthouse for a pretrial conference when agents showed up.

(More Hannah Dugan stories.)