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<\/p>\nA Cal State Channel Islands professor said he is feeling a sense of \u201crighteous indignation\u201d after a federal jury acquitted him Thursday of charges that he hurled a tear gas canister at Border Patrol agents last summer during a protest against a sweeping immigration raid at a Southern California cannabis farm.<\/p>\n
A federal jury in downtown Los Angeles found Jonathan Caravello, 38, a U.S. citizen and lecturer in CSUCI\u2019s math and philosophy department, not guilty of one count of assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
Caravello said he declined a plea deal early in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I didn\u2019t assault anyone and wasn\u2019t going to take a plea,\u201d he said. He added that his position as a professor, white male, and access to a strong legal defense team made him feel it was his responsibility to fight the charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was my responsibility to take this to trial no matter how long it would take or the consequences,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I had ended up in prison, I wouldn\u2019t have regretted taking this to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jonathan Caravello after being acquitted Thursday at the First Street courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
(Taylor Buck)<\/p>\n
Caravello\u2019s attorney, Knut Johnson of Singleton Schreiber, said his client had acted to protect those around him, not harm federal agents. \u201cJohn cleared a tear gas canister away from everyone,\u201d Johnson said, pushing back on the government\u2019s account and adding that tear gas had been deployed indiscriminately by law enforcement.<\/p>\n
He said the prosecution never should have made it to trial. <\/p>\n
\u201cA law firm as powerful as the United States Department of Justice should never use their might to prosecute cases like this,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cGoing through nine months of accusations to a trial is incredibly stressful and will take years off your life, and John shouldn\u2019t have gone through that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The California Faculty Association<\/a>, the union representing Cal State faculty, celebrated the verdict in a statement posted to social media, saying Caravello had been cleared of any wrongdoing and that the decision affirmed his right to protest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe beatings, the surveillance, and the trauma that John and others across the state and nation have had to endure cannot be ignored,\u201d the union wrote.<\/p>\n Cal State Channel Islands said Caravello\u2019s employment status has not changed and that he remained employed throughout the proceedings, according to the university.<\/p>\n \u201cThe University is aware of the jury\u2019s decision in the case involving Dr. Jonathan Caravello, and we respect the outcome of the legal process,\u201d the university said in a statement. \u201cWe recognize this has been a complex and, at times, difficult situation for members of our campus community.\u201d<\/p>\n Caravello was swept up in a sprawling federal prosecution stemming from a July 10 protest at Glass House Farms\u2019 grow site in Camarillo, where federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Border Patrol executed a high-risk search warrant at a marijuana farm on a 160-acre property, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
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