A 12-person grand jury in Texas has indicted more than 140 illegal immigrants on misdemeanor rioting charges following an alleged attempt to breach the Southern border earlier this month, District Attorney Bill Hicks announced on Tuesday.
Authorities say the April 12 incident in El Paso began when someone in the group cut through a razor wire barrier placed along the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas National Guard soldiers.
The area where the wire barrier was allegedly breached was near a high school and highway, according to reports. No injuries were reported.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mr. Hicks said he had managed to secure the indictments against the illegal immigrants after asking the grand jury to review whether or not Texas Department of Public Safety troopers had probable cause to arrest them.
Ultimately, the jury signed off on the indictments, he said.
The ruling came just one day after a county court judge threw out the cases after finding there was no probable cause for the arresting the illegal immigrants.
“We took all 141 of those cases to a grand jury this morning,” Mr. Hicks told reporters, according to the El Paso Times. “Because the judge’s ruling was limited to the complaint affidavit in front of him, it allowed us to take the broader case to the grand jury.
“We presented the case as a whole. We presented videotape evidence of what happened. The grand jurors believed there was, in fact, probable cause,” he continued.
Judge Dismisses Charges
The indictment came after Judge Ruben Morales threw out state misdemeanor charges against the illegal immigrants, citing a lack of probable cause provided by the state.A public defender representing the illegal immigrants also argued there was not enough evidence and accused authorities of attempting to arrest and harass the illegal immigrants.
“The citizens of El Paso, through the grand jury, essentially overruled the judge’s ruling and found probable cause to believe that the riots did occur,” Mr. Hicks said.
While acknowledging that it is rare to have a grand jury review a misdemeanor case, Mr. Hicks said he believes it is fair and that the evidence against the illegal immigrants charged with misdemeanor rioting is that “that individual is part of the group,” according to El Paso Matters.
“Through videotape, we know that the group is a concise group,” he said. “If you’re a part of the group that is committing a criminal act, you know that you’re part of that group, you know that the group has committed a criminal act, then you are guilty of the offense of riot.”
‘No Witnesses, No Evidence’
The ruling by the grand jury was criticized by El Paso County public defender Kelli Childress who called the indictments against the illegal immigrants “horrific.”“People are released from the custody of the sheriff at noon. And two days later, (Hicks) is seeking warrants to re-arrest them for a case that a judge already said there’s no cause to pursue,” Ms. Childress told El Paso Matters. “They have no witnesses. They have no evidence,” she added.
Two of the 142 cases related to the April 12 incident were not dismissed on Monday because one of the suspects was already in federal custody, and the other was charged with criminal mischief instead of riot participation, The El Paso Times reported.
The Epoch Times has contacted District Attorney Bill Hicks’ office for further comment.
