A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss charges against three anti-ICE protesters in Spokane, Washington, stemming from a standoff with federal authorities last summer.
Judge Rebecca Pennell ordered the three defendants to stand trial on May 18 on charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers. The defendants’ attorneys had requested that the charges be dropped on First Amendment grounds and other grounds.
The court ruled the allegations of blocking a transport van went beyond protected activity. Several defendants agreed to a plea deal, but Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II filed various motions to potentially dismiss the charges.
Three anti-ICE radicals who blocked a federal transport van in Spokane last June, deflated its tires, and piled objects to stop officers from transferring detainees are heading to trial after a federal judge denied their attempt to dismiss the charges.
Jac Archer, Justice… pic.twitter.com/xJiOXsRNnc
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) April 20, 2026
The federal indictment followed a protest in June 2025, outside a federal facility, where demonstrators tried to physically obstruct federal agents from leaving the property.
Local law enforcement arrested dozens of people after the protestors attempted to block agents from leaving and allegedly damaged a transport vehicle.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted nine of the protesters for conspiracy to impede or injure an officer.
The Center Square reported six of the defendants opted to take a plea deal, including former City Council President Ben Stuckart, who instigated the chaos. Stuckart posted on social media to organize protestors and urged them to prevent agents from transferring immigrants to a facility in Tacoma.
Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla decided to fight to dismiss the charges. Archer argued the protest activity was protected by the First Amendment.
The judge denied that, as well as a motion to dismiss for lack of a lawfully appointed United States attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, and denied a motion to dismiss or strike one of the defendants’ alleged conspiracies, KREM 2 News reported.
The DOJ countered Archer’s argument, alleging that the defendants directly interfered with a transport van leaving the federal facility. They deflated its tires and piled objects in front of the exits to stop the agents.
Forral, director of operations for Spokane Community Against Racism, who the mayor appointed to the Human Rights Commission, filed a different motion to dismiss on the ground that the federal personnel involved are not actual “officers.”
Forral claimed the indictment “lacked specificity” and that the phrasing “objects” is legally insufficient. The DOJ called the motion “meritless,” The Center Square reported.
Malvawalla, a US Army veteran, has alleged that he was assaulted by federal agents during his arrest.
Protests erupted across the country in June 2025, following ICE raids in Los Angeles that sparked riots and looting throughout the city. The demonstrations quickly spread to Seattle, Portland and other major cities.
The protestors turned confrontational and violent near an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Spokane, Washington, over several days last June.
The night in question devolved into chaos, with police deploying smoke and pepper balls and arresting more than 30 people. The mayor issued a curfew for the first time since 2020 in response to George Floyd’s death.
Stuckart helped organize the demonstration that eventually led to his arrest and that of several others. Spurred on by Stuckart, the protestors allegedly tried to block and damage law enforcement vehicles in response to the detainment of two Venezuelan men.
“F–k ICE and f–k the National Guard being called up in Los Angeles. Hope to see you Saturday,” Stuckart posted to Facebook leading up to the protest.
The local city official became a Venezuelan immigrant’s legal guardian weeks earlier to help him avoid deportation. He announced his plans to sit in front of the bus transporting him and said, “Feel free to join me … Not tonight, not Saturday, but right now!!!!”
Local law enforcement charged many of the protesters with failure to disperse, while a few others got charged with unlawful imprisonment and assault.
Local activists Mikki Hatfield and Bobbi Silva, who also took plea deals, were hit with additional federal charges of assault on a federal officer, employee, or person assisting a federal officer.
Those plea deals allowed the courts to defer sentencing under a guilty plea, including reducing the charges later if each defendant complied with the conditions that they agreed to.
As for where the case goes from here, the court will hold a pretrial conference on May 5. The judge will consider motions that day by acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche seeking to exclude certain defense arguments and evidence at trial.
Just the News reported Blanche specifically wants the court to exclude arguments about whether the demonstration was a constitutionally protected protest. In addition, he wants references to other major immigration-related protests tossed out.
Blanche has asked the court to reject claims of political influence, including former acting U.S. Attorney Richard Baker’s resignation days before the indictment, and arguments that two Venezuelan immigrants whose transport sparked the protest were here legally.
KREM 2 News spoke to Liz Moore with the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane following the hearing. Moore voiced opposition to the judge’s decisions, saying “The idea that that was a conspiracy when it was a spontaneous, the most spontaneous protest Spokane has ever seen.”
