Protester cleared of assault charge

Acquittal may bode ill for U.S. prosecutor pursuing cases tied to immigration clashes.

- BRITTNY MEJIA AND JAMES QUEALLY

A protester was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he assaulted a federal agent during widespread protests against immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles, just hours after one of the faces of President Trump's enforcement policies took the stand to testify against him.

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino — the brash agent who led a phalanx of military personnel into MacArthur Park this summer — was called as a witness Wednesday in a federal misdemeanor assault case against Brayan Ramos-Brito, who was accused of striking a federal agent.

Bovino, who flew in to testify from Chicago, the latest city targeted for an immigration enforcement surge, said he witnessed the alleged assault committed by Ramos-Brito in Paramount on June 7.

Bovino was questioned by the defense about previous comments he made referring to undocumented immigrants as “scum.”

The jury came back with the acquittal after a little over an hour of deliberations.

The case could prove to be an ominous bellwether for embattled acting U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who has struggled to win indictments against those charged with committing crimes while protesting aggressive immigration enforcement in Southern California.

Prosecutors originally brought a felony charge against Ramos-Brito, which was reduced to a misdemeanor.

During the two-day trial, a number of videos were displayed showing a Border Patrol agent shoving Ramos-Brito, but none clearly illustrated his alleged attack on the agent.

Outfitted in his green Border Patrol uniform, Bovino was the lone Border Patrol agent to testify that he witnessed Ramos-Brito drag his arm back and strike an agent with an open palm in the chest.

Ramos-Brito and his attorneys declined to comment after the verdict, but were seen celebrating the acquittal in the downtown federal courthouse. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment.