El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks has charged 140 illegal aliens with rioting following an attempt by a liberal county judge to drop the charges against them.
The El Paso Times states that Hicks brought the charges before a grand jury on Tuesday after El Paso County Judge Ruben Morales dismissed them, citing insufficient probable cause.
Hicks explained:
We took all 141 of those cases to a grand jury this morning. 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. 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.
Traditionally, we reserve the grand jury for felony indictment, and we don’t take misdemeanors to a grand jury. However, when there is a question regarding probable cause, I believe it is fair to take these cases to 12 citizens of our community.
Kelli Childress, the El Paso County Public Defender representing the illegal aliens facing criminal prosecution, denounced the indictment, labeling it a violation of their human rights:
We pretty much predicted that was their plan, which is why we sought a probable cause hearing in advance of today’s grand jury. I can’t say we didn’t know it was coming. We didn’t know exactly when. Knowing that it was coming doesn’t at all ease the fact that I think it is a horrible move. I think it is a blatant violation of constitutional rights and human rights.
I find it pretty amazing that they were able to indict 140 misdemeanor cases basically overnight, yet I have hundreds and hundreds of felony cases waiting to be charged for more than a year. They can claim all they want that this isn’t about politics and it’s not about immigration laws, but their actions scream otherwise.
This isn’t the the first instance of an El Paso judge prioritizing illegal immigrants over the rule of law.
Just last month, El Paso Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta directed the release of numerous migrants involved in a violent altercation with National Guard troops along the Rio Grande as they sought illegal entry into the country.
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