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Felony charges reduced against Ontario [CA] health care workers who intervened during ICE raid
https://abc7.com/post/felony-charges-reduced-ontario-healthcare-workers-intervened-during-ice-raid-surgical-center/17589857/RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- Two Southern California surgical center employees accused of interfering with an immigration arrest this past July are no longer facing felony charges.
Jose Ortega and Danielle Davila were charged with assaulting federal officers and conspiracy to interfere after they stepped in during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest at the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center. Video from the incident shows the pair intervening as ICE agents attempted to detain landscaper Denis Guillen.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has since dropped the felony counts, reducing the charges to misdemeanors. Attorneys for Ortega and Davila said their clients could have accepted plea deals, but instead chose to fight the case before a jury.
"It is a political arrest. It's obvious," said Carlos Juarez, Ortega's attorney. "Our community, Latinos, have been targeted. It's a political ploy on the part of Washington."