In a Warning to the Courts, FBI Arrests Milwaukee Judge on Felony Charges for Allegedly ‘Obstructing’ Courthouse Arrest of Illegal Migrant

The FBI has arrested a Milwaukee judge and charged her with two felonies for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest, FBI Director Patel announced Friday.“We will come after you and we will prosecute you,” Attorney General Bondi said of her message to judges who don’t obey the law. “We will find you.”The arrest touched off a furious reaction from Democrats who called it a “gravely serious and drastic move.”Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested at the Milwaukee County Courthouse for “obstructing an immigrant operation last week.”“We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest,” Mr. Patel posted on X Friday. Mr. Patel deleted the tweet for reasons that are not clear and then reposted it a short time later. Mr. Flores Ruiz was eventually arrested following a foot chase with federal agents.Mr. Patel said Judge Dugan’s “obstruction created increased danger to the public.”On Friday, Judge Dugan appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries as she faces two federal charges, one for “obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States,” and the second for “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.”Her attorney Craig Mastantuono told the court that Judge Dugan “wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.On April 18, a Mexican national who was facing charges of misdemeanor battery in a domestic violence case, Mr. Flores-Ruiz, was in Judge Dugan’s courtroom for a pre-trial conference, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. When ICE officials arrived at the courtroom and then made their way to Judge Dugan’s office, Judge Dugan allegedly directed both Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to come with her through the jury door and into a non-public area of the courtroom.Mr. Flores-Ruiz had been previously deported back to Mexico in 2013. After positively identifying Mr. Flores-Ruiz using fingerprints from his criminal case, a group of ICE, FBI, and DEA officials arrived to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to execute a warrant for his arrest, planning to apprehend the man outside Judge Dugan’s courtroom.At the courthouse, the officers were asked by a shift sergeant with Milwaukee County Sheriff’s office to wait until after Mr. Flores-Ruiz’s indictment was finished, according to the indictment. The men also spoke with a courtroom deputy who told the agents that “after an ICE arrest in the courthouse earlier that month, a shift sergeant had asked bailiffs to alert a supervisor at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office if ICE agents were in the building,” according to the indictment. Mr. Flores-Ruiz’s attorney, a public defender, informed Judge Dugan that there were ICE agents in the hallway. Judge Dugan “became visibly angry, commented that the situation was ‘absurd,’ left the bench, and entered chambers,” according to the indictment.Judge Dugan, who witnesses said “was visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor,” and another judge confronted the arrest team outside her courtroom and asked to see the arrest warrant for Mr. Flores-Ruiz. “After finding out that they were not present for a court appearance and that they were with ICE, Judge Dugan ordered them to report to the Chief Judge’s office,” according to the indictment. Back in the courtroom, Judge Dugan “forcefully motioned” Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to come her way, told them both “come with me,” and escorted both out of the courtroom through the “jury door” that led to a nonpublic area, according to the indictment. An attorney present in the courtroom “indicated this was done with a ’stern’ tone,” according to the indictment.“Judge Dugan came back to the courtroom and conducted hearings on the morning’s docket,” according to the indictment,Two DEA agents observed Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his attorney “briskly walk towards the elevator bank,” with one agent joining the two in the elevator. Upon exiting the elevator, a foot chase ensued, with agents pursuing the man “for the entire length of the courthouse” and ultimately arresting him, according to the indictment. In a statement on X, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, called the arrest of Ms. Dugan “a gravely serious and drastic move.”“Make no mistake, we do not have kings in this country and we are a Democracy governed by laws that everyone must abide by,” said Ms. Baldwin. “By relentlessly attacking the judicial system, flouting court orders, and arresting a sitting judge, this President is putting those basic Democratic values that Wisconsinites hold dear on the line,” she added. Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and member of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges. It’s a whole new descent into government chaos.”Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted a statement on X criticizing the Trump Administration’s repeated use of “dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor.”“I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law,” Mr. Evers added.During an appearance on Fox News Friday, Bondi said she learned of Ms. Dugan’s actions when it first happened on April 18, adding, “We could not believe that a judge really did that.”“You cannot obstruct a criminal case, and really, shame on her. It was a domestic violence case, of all cases, and she’s protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime,” said Bondi during an appearance on Fox News. Mr. Flores-Ruiz was arrested on March 12 after allegedly punching a roommate 30 times and then striking a woman as she was trying to separate the fight, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Mr. Flores-Ruiz is currently being held at the Dodge Detention Facility at Juneau, Wisconsin, according to reports.“The administration is making illegal immigration a top priority — and we take seriously every effort to uphold the law and make America safer,” Erica Knight, an advisor to FBI Director Patel, said.

In a Warning to the Courts, FBI Arrests Milwaukee Judge on Felony Charges for Allegedly ‘Obstructing’ Courthouse Arrest of Illegal Migrant

In a Warning to the Courts, FBI Arrests Milwaukee Judge on Felony Charges for Allegedly ‘Obstructing’ Courthouse Arrest of Illegal Migrant

More from the New York Sun

An ‘Idiots’ Guide to a Warm and Witty Road Trip

Alaska’s Dueling Dans Could Give Democrats Control of the Senate, Boosting Effort To Scrap Ranked-Choice Voting

Trump, Asked About a 2028 Bid, Praises Cruz, Calling Him ‘Talented’ and ‘a Friend’

Democrat Mary Peltola Opens Wide Lead Over Sitting GOP Senator in Initial Round of Alaska Voting

Iran Not Only Targets Barron but Melania Trump, Plots To Assassinate Yair Netanyahu

American Academic Who Leveled Plagiarism Charges Against Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Is Reinstated

Justice Jackson’s Invocation of a ‘Kafkaesque Nightmare’ Proves Too Extreme for Even Her Fellow Liberal Justices

Reckless Overspending Fuels America’s Surging National Debt, Yet Democrats Try To Pin the Blame on Tax Cuts

More from the New York Sun

An ‘Idiots’ Guide to a Warm and Witty Road Trip

Alaska’s Dueling Dans Could Give Democrats Control of the Senate, Boosting Effort To Scrap Ranked-Choice Voting

Trump, Asked About a 2028 Bid, Praises Cruz, Calling Him ‘Talented’ and ‘a Friend’

Democrat Mary Peltola Opens Wide Lead Over Sitting GOP Senator in Initial Round of Alaska Voting

Iran Not Only Targets Barron but Melania Trump, Plots To Assassinate Yair Netanyahu

American Academic Who Leveled Plagiarism Charges Against Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Is Reinstated

Justice Jackson’s Invocation of a ‘Kafkaesque Nightmare’ Proves Too Extreme for Even Her Fellow Liberal Justices

Reckless Overspending Fuels America’s Surging National Debt, Yet Democrats Try To Pin the Blame on Tax Cuts