Agents pushed, shoved, tackled protesters, pointed guns at them, threw tear gas and deployed smoke canisters. Everyone that agents detained were released by the FBI, and none of them are currently charged with assault," she pointed out. "Those are the factual findings that I'm making to support this preliminary injunction."I take that last bit as a slam on Justice Kavanaugh and the stops that now bear his name. Probably not what the judge meant, but it’s out in the world, now. We all get to see it as we see fit.
"I see little reason for the use of force that the federal agents are currently using. Pointing guns, pulling out pepper spray, throwing tear gas, shooting pepper balls, and using other less lethal munitions do not appear to be appropriate," Ellis said. "It is difficult to see how an injunction ordering the government to comply with the Constitution can be harmful."
The judge found that the Trump administration's use of force in Chicago "shocks the conscience" and said she was "ordering complete relief to the plaintiffs."
According to the injunction, federal agents can only use force if it is "objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat of the person causing serious bodily injury or death to another person."
Ellis said that agents must give two separate warnings before deploying force, wear identification in two places, and wear body cameras.
"I don't find it appropriate to stay a preliminary injunction pending appeal," she added, acknowledging that the Trump administration was likely to appeal the order.
"Liberty once lost is lost forever," Ellis said, concluding the hearing with a quote from John Adams.
Not surprisingly, Judge Ellis found nothing the government witnesses said to be credible. It’s a significant point, because only the trial court can establish the facts. The appeals court can say it’s a separation of powers issue (for example), or the trial court otherwise misapplied the law, but it can’t say the government presented credible evidence.
There’s a BlueSky thread on the court’s comments from the bench, if you want to read more. It was such a thorough rejection of the government’s evidence, I was reminded of Trump’s 60+ election challenges, almost all of which failed for lack of evidence.
The government may appeal, but this will come back to the trial court that just declared all the government witnesses non-credible. What do they do for an encore?
And in D.C., the Sandwich Guy was acquitted.
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