Judge Orders Release of Illegal Immigrants Who Stormed the Border and Rioted Against National Guard

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Jim Hᴏft

On Easter Sunday, El Paso Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ordered the release of a large group of illegal immigrants accused of participating in a violent encounter with National Guard troops along the Rio Grande.

The incident, which took place on March 21, has been described by authorities as a “border riot,” during which illegal immigrants, predominantly men from Venezuela, overwhelmed security measures and clashed with National Guard forces.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that hundreds of illegal aliens from Africa, Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela made a rush for the border in El Paso, Texas after they were pushed south of the concertina wire in the middle of the night by the National Guard.

The illegals breached the concertina wire, overwhelmed National Guard members, and made a rush for the border.

WATCH:

Daily Mail reported:

Authorities in Texas have arrested 70 migrants who broke through a line of National Guard troops on March 21 with the intent to storm past the El Paso border.

The 70 who were arrested were part of a group of 600 illegal crossers present that day, who were seen climbing over a triple layer of razor wire and then confronting the National Guard at the other side.

In a video of the riot captured by the New York Post, the group of migrants initially appear to put their hands in the air. The scene quickly turned violent when a few of them squeak through the several National Guard members that were closing the gap between a broken fence.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has locked up more than 200 migrants whom Texas wants to arrest and charge related to this incident, an agency official told the New York Post. That same official reportedly said that federal authorities ‘are not being as cooperative as Border Patrol.’

The 70 migrants who were detained by Texas authorities are facing misdemeanor rioting charges.

According to the New York Post, the National Guard personnel reported the seizure of knives and makeshift weapons from individuals involved in the disturbance. Additionally, there was an instance where an illegal alien attempted to seize a firearm from a soldier.

Several soldiers stationed near Gate 36 on that day required medical attention for minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Judge Acosta, presiding over an online teleconference bond hearing on Easter Sunday, criticized the El Paso District Attorney’s Office for “not being ready” for individual detention hearings for each defendant, El Paso Times reported.

“It is the ruling of the court that all the rioting participation cases will be released on their own recognizance,” Acosta said.

Several illegal immigrants faced assault charges for toppling National Guard members during the riot.

The precise number of individuals charged with “riot participation,” a Class B misdemeanor, remains undisclosed, though Judge Acosta alluded to “hundreds of arrestees” who were legally due individual detention hearings within a 48-hour window.

Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Martinez’s plea for a postponement of the hearings was firmly denied by the magistrate.

“So if the DA’s office is telling me that they are not ready to go, what we’re going to do is we’re going to release all these individuals on their own recognizance,” Acosta said at the hearing.

Following the ruling, two additional migrants faced separate hearings on criminal mischief charges related to the border fence damage. They received a $2,000 bond each, but Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun also sanctioned their release on personal recognizance bonds. Both are subject to immigration holds.

According to the El Paso Times, another hearing for more defendants is scheduled today, Monday.

Judge Humberto Acosta is well-known for his decisions to dismiss criminal cases and return defendants to the community.

FLASHBACK: Judge Humberto Acosta is famous for dismissing criminal cases and releasing criminals back into the general population. Just two years ago he dismissed over 100 cases in one day. https://t.co/nC6pwwfzCJ

— @amuse (@amuse) March 31, 2024

Copyright 2024 The Gateway Pundit