Immigration officer is charged with assault after protest outside Colorado ICE facility, DA says

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado prosecutor said Wednesday that an immigration officer has been charged with third-degree assault and criminal mischief following an investigation into the treatment of a protester seen being put into a chokehold.

Multiple videos show a masked federal agent placing Franci Stagi in what she described as a chokehold, and pulling her over to the other side of the street.

The protests took place over the detention on Oct. 27 of three Colombian asylum-seekers — a man and two children — while on their way to and from school in the morning.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged a request seeking comment but didn’t immediately respond to questions about the charges. Court documents didn’t list any attorney as representing the officer, Nicholas Rice.

In late October, protesters gathered outside an ICE facility in Durango — a college town and destination for outdoor recreation in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

The altercation started as Stagi filmed the agent, who was moving camping gear that was left near the gated entryway to the building. She told The Associated Press at the time that the agent hit her hand hard, either taking her phone or causing her to drop it.

Stagi, a retired hypnotherapist, said she touched the agent’s shoulder to get his attention and then he grabbed her by the hair, put her neck in the crook of his arm and carried her across the street by her head. She said he threw her down an embankment next to the street.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the officer was under investigation.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigations launched its own investigation at the request of Durango Police Department Chief Brice Current, who raised concerns about possible violations of state law — an unusual if not unprecedented request.