SAN ANTONIO – Protestors and police were seen on video pushing each other in front of the warehouse set to become an ICE processing center on the East Side in late July.
Officers arrested a man now identified as Ian Ross. He is facing a federal charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding an agent.
Activist group Right to Rebel San Antonio, Texas, invited people to the July protest. A representative for the group who asked to remain anonymous told us a day after the arrest that agents accused Ross of pushing a fence into an agent.
“And then agents come out, open the fence back up, and say, ‘You assaulted a federal agent,’” said the anonymous representative.
We tried to get Ross’ family’s reaction to the charges. After initially answering the door, they shut it and did not return.
Jonathan Chavez, a federal defense attorney, said that is common in cases involving the federal government.
“That is pretty common a lot of times, especially when dealing with the federal government like this,” said attorney Jonathan Chavez with Jonathan Chavez Law.
Chavez said Ross could face serious penalties if convicted.
“Years in prison, potentially, depending on the facts of the case,” Chavez said.
Chavez said federal prosecutors have a strong track record, with at least a 90% conviction rate. However, he said some cases are dismissed.
“It almost seems like a toss-up at this point, like 50/50 at this point,” Chavez said.
We requested the ICE agents’ body camera video from the incident and are waiting for it.
Ross is expected to appear in court on Sept. 16.
When we brought up the possibility of the case being dropped to the Department of Justice, they wrote to us in an email that it takes interference with law enforcement seriously and will prosecute cases to the fullest extent of the law.