Felony charge against California union leader over immigration protest reduced

Southern California union leader who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year, his criminal obstruction charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor, according to court records.

David Huerta had been charged with obstructing, resisting or opposing a federal officer — a Class A felony, according to a filing Friday by Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in federal court.

However, prosecutors filed a proposed order Saturday seeking dismissal without prejudice to the original charge of conspiracy to obstruct an officer.

The Associated Press sent an email Saturday seeking comment from the U.S. attorney’s office.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement Friday that Huerta was simply observing a workplace raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure workers were treated fairly and that she was unjustly arrested and charged.

“This is a blatant abuse of power by an administration determined to punish its perceived enemies and attack immigrants,” the statement said.

Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California, was arrested June 6 while protesting outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating alleged immigration violations.

A crowd of people gathered outside to shout at the police. Huerta sat in front of a vehicle gate and encouraged others to walk in circles to try to block law enforcement from entering or exiting, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in a previous filing in federal court.

A police officer told Huerta to leave, then put his hand on Huerta to move him out of the way of a passing vehicle, the officer wrote. Huerta pushed back and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him, according to the filing. Huerta was injured during his arrest and was hospitalized, the union said.

Huerta was later released from federal prison on $50,000 bail.

Huerta’s union represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security guards and other workers across California. His arrest became a rallying cry for immigrant advocates across the country, who were calling for his release and an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. SEIU officials demonstrated in Washington, D.C., in support of Huerta’s release.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders denounced the arrest. Newsom wrote in a statement at the time that Huerta is a “respected leader, patriot and defender of working people.”

Father David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s lawyers, said in a statement that they would seek “the most expeditious trial” to vindicate him.

“In the four months since David’s arrest, it has become even clearer that there was no basis to charge him and certainly none for the manner in which he was treated,” they wrote. “This case is not a good faith quest for justice but a simple act of retaliation, intended to silence dissent and punish opposition. It reflects the Trump administration’s continued weaponization of prosecutorial power against its perceived opponents.”