SEIU California President David Huerta charged with misdemeanor in connection with June arrest during a protest in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (KEYT) – David Jose Huerta, the President of SEIU California, was arraigned in federal court today on a misdemeanor charge of obstruction after he was arrested this summer during protests outside of a business being served a search warrant by federal law enforcement agents.
Huerta pled not guilty to his misdemeanor charge and a trial has been scheduled to begin on Jan. 20, in a Los Angeles-based federal courtroom with U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. presiding shared the Department of Justice in a press release Tuesday.
During Tuesday's court proceedings, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg ordered Huerta released on his own recognizance and while he is allowed to travel within the United States, he musk seek the court's permission to leave the country and had to surrender his passport noted the Department of Justice.
Huerta was also ordered to stay at least 100 feet away from federal law enforcement officers added the Department of Justice.
The labor leader was initially charged with conspiracy to impede an officer, a felony charge with a maximum statutory sentence of six years, but his misdemeanor charge filed in federal court this week carries a statutory sentence of one year in federal prison.
"Mr. Huerta, a well-known and deeply respected community leader, was exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel," stated Senators Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla and Charles Schumer in a letter issued the day of Huerta's release from federal custody. "In the course of doing so, Mr. Huerta suffered an injury and law enforcement personnel apprehended and subsequently arrested him. It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement."
According to Tuesday's charging document, on June 6 of this year, Huerta and others arrived to a business in the 2400 block of East 15th Street in Los Angeles where federal law enforcement personnel were executing a search warrant for the premises authorized by U.S. Magistrate Judge Margo Rocconi.
The original criminal complaint against Huerta detailed that an undercover officer in plain clothes noticed that a woman was outside of the vehicle gates between the public sidewalk and the business being served the search warrant when she began to use her phone to film federal agents.
About 15 to 30 minutes after the woman arrived and began to use her phone, additional protesters arrived at the scene and a review of video surveillance captured by the undercover officer showed that Huerta arrived around 11:49 a.m. detailed the original criminal complaint.
Huerta was quoted in the original criminal complaint asking law enforcement officers at the scene to remove their facial coverings and explain their activities as well as coordinating protesters to join him in sitting down in front of the vehicle gate explaining, "it's a public sidewalk, what are they going to do".
Federal law enforcement personnel at the scene stated the gathered protesters were, "impeding law enforcement access into and out of the premises" to which Huerta is quoted as responding, "what are you going to do, you can't arrest all of us" shared the original criminal complaint.
Huerta told federal agents at the scene, "I can't hear you through your [expletive] mask" and other protesters were heard asking officers to remove their masks, reveal their badges, and identify themselves noted the original criminal complaint.
It was not noted in the original or latest complaints against Huerta if agents complied with the requests.
Eventually, a white law enforcement van arrived at the scene and protesters were told to clear the way for the van to enter and when they refused, a law enforcement officer approached Huerta as shown in the image below from the first criminal complaint.
"Because HUERTA was being uncooperative, the officer put his hands on HUERTA in an attempt to move him out of the path of the vehicle," stated the original criminal complaint. "I [the law enforcement official who submitted a statement] saw HUERTA push back, and in response, the officer pushed HUERTA to the ground. The officer and I then handcuffed HUERTA and arrested him."
Other protesters at the scene continued to block the van and had to be physically removed by federal law enforcement personnel.
The Department of Justice declined to provide any further comment on the criminal proceedings against Huerta Tuesday.
"Nothing will be resolved with violence. Violence begets violence," said Huerta following his release from federal custody. "I don't know what they have in store for me. I imagine at this point in time I am their project and they're going to put me as their example of what happens, but I'm prepared to take on that journey and I'm prepared to face them."
