The Rockingham County woman arrested by ICE on Monday, in an incident that was captured in a video that quickly circulated on social media, was released from jail on Friday. She's now awaiting trial for allegedly forcibly resisting the arrest. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
The woman appeared in the federal courthouse in Charlottesville on Friday morning, in a small hearing room packed with more than 40 people – most of them supporters. WMRA is withholding the woman’s name to protect her privacy.
The Homeland Security special agent who pulled her over, Scott Stein, took the stand during a preliminary hearing. Stein described the woman's behavior after he grabbed her as "forcibly driv[ing] herself with her legs," "forcibly turn[ing] her body," and "forc[ing] her way opposite of my forces" to open the car door. He used the word "force" so many times that the judge said it was unclear what he meant.
Body camera footage played in the courtroom showed the woman speaking with Stein behind the car. She appears confused when Stein says there's a warrant for her arrest, and says she has an "abogado," the Spanish word for lawyer. As Stein reaches quickly towards her, she puts her hands up. But that's all you can see until a few seconds later, when she's on the ground by the front of the car. Stein said the camera was obscured because his body was pressed up against hers. Because of that, you can't see whether or not their movement is a result of her pulling the agent, as he claims.
The woman's attorney, Peter Hansen, argued that "turning and grabbing a handle in the act of falling, when this takes place over a second or perhaps two seconds," was not forcibly resisting.
Judge Joel Hoppe found that there was probable cause for the case to proceed based on Stein's testimony. He noted there was no evidence the woman pushed or assaulted the agent, but if she did struggle to get away, the case law does not clearly define at what point that becomes "forcibly resisting."
The woman was released under the supervision of ICE and the probation office. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
