National Lawyer's Guild Inc.
06/12/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/12/2026 13:11
NLG Calls for Overturn of Spokane 3’s Verdict, 1 Year after Neighbors Linked Arms against Illegal ICE Kidnapping
On June 11, 2025, ICE agents conducted an illegal kidnapping of two young asylum-seekers in Spokane, Washington. Neighbors, including a former City Council President, linked arms outside the ICE field office, in an act of civil disobedience against the illegal detention of the two immigrants. Hundreds of community members then autonomously showed up in solidarity with all immigrants who have been abducted by ICE. Throughout the day, Spokane residents individually took small actions against the violence of the federal government, as many people have done in this country when breaking news occurs.
In response, the Department of Justice indicted numerous protesters under egregious conspiracy accusations. Some of them plead guilty, but three of them, the Spokane 3, took their cases to trial. After seven days of trial, the jury found the three defendants guilty of varying conspiracy offenses.
The Spokane 3 are still litigating a post-trial Rule 29 motion, requesting that the judge overturn the jury verdict on legal grounds. NLG calls for the correct outcome of this case: the overturn of this federal attack on the right to gather, associate, and speak up.
We cannot normalize the recurring criminalization of anti-government protests. Civil society, legal workers, lawyers, and all those with influence must urgently organize to stand up against the prosecutorial powers of this alarmingly fascist federal government. From the Prairieland cases in North Texas, to the persecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center, to the indictment of protesters at a church in Minneapolis, to the violence against protesters outside of Delaney Hall, we are in a moment of reckoning.
More information on the Spokane 3: https://www.spokane3support.com
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