Colorado DA charges Border Patrol agent with assault over anti-ICE protest—DHS call it 'a political stunt'

A Colorado district attorney has filed third-degree assault and criminal mischief charges against a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer stemming from an anti-ICE protest outside a federal immigration facility in October of last year. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described the charges as "unlawful," saying they were filed as a "political stunt."

Democratic District Attorney Sean P. Murray for the Sixth District of Colorado announced the two-count indictment in a Tuesday press release, identifying the Border Patrol agent as Nicholas Rice. The incident occurred on October 28 outside the ICE detention facility in Durango, Colorado, during which Rice was responding to a hostile anti-ICE protest following the apprehension of a man who was arrested while taking his children to school. The subject was later released by ICE after agents wrongly identified him, an official said.

Video evidence shows the alleged victim, Anne Francesca Stagi, putting a phone up to Rice's face before he allegedly knocked it out of her hand. Stagi then appears to make physical contact with the officer as he began to walk away, grabbing his shoulder. Rice turned around, grabbed Stagi with other federal agents, and brought her to the ground.

Stagi claimed to investigators that Rice put her in a chokehold and that she allegedly still feels pain. The prosecution follows the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) 's investigation into the incident at the request of Durango Police Chief Brice Current.

"Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies," DHS told the AP in a statement, adding that the prosecution is nothing short of a "political stunt."
 

This is the second federal immigration officer to have criminal state assault charges filed against them in recent weeks stemming from anti-ICE protest action. Earlier this month, Minneapolis prosecutors charged an ICE agent for allegedly pointing his duty handgun at two individuals trailing him on the highway back in February.