Federal Jury Convicts Army Veteran and Two Others in ICE Protest Conspiracy Case]

A federal jury has found three protesters, including a U.S. military veteran who served in Afghanistan, guilty of felony conspiracy charges related to a June 2025 demonstration against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Spokane, Washington.

The verdict represents a significant escalation in legal action against immigration protesters, with the three defendants now facing potential sentences of up to six years in prison and fines of $250,000. Legal experts view the case as a serious threat to First Amendment rights, with all three defendants planning to appeal the decision.

Former Army Sergeant Bajun Mavalwalla, who was among those convicted, stated, “I’m not done. I’m going to keep fighting.”

His father, retired Army Intelligence Officer Bajun Ray Mavalwalla—who earned three Bronze Stars during service in Iraq and Afghanistan—cautioned that the verdict could set a precedent for suppressing speech and assembly rights. UC Irvine Law Professor Robert Chang, executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, called the decision “frightening,” warning that “by this logic, any protest could be a conspiracy.”

The case drawn national attention after acting U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington Richard Barker resigned rather than signing the indictment, telling The Guardian that neither ICE agents nor protesters were injured. The defendants had filed a Rule 29 motion arguing the evidence was insufficient for conviction.

Federal Judge Rebecca Pennell ruled that protesters could not invoke the First Amendment as a defense, though they were permitted to explain their motivations. During the trial, prosecutors addressed controversial social media posts by ICE agent Jeremy Burlingame—who had testified in the case—calling Black politicians “lying ghetto garbage” and transgender individuals “mentally ill,” and praising ICE’s arrest of a pregnant woman at gunpoint as a “pregnant invader.”

Despite prosecutors requesting Burlingame’s impeachment and acknowledging his posts were “horrendous,” the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts within 24 hours of closing arguments. Former U.S. Attorney Barker expressed concern that justice may not have been served.

The conviction marks the first prosecution in Eastern Washington under 18 U.S.C. §372—a Civil War-era law being applied to charges against community members who intervened in the detention of two young men. The case stands in contrast to a similar Chicago prosecution, where federal officials agreed to drop conspiracy charges against ICE protesters in May and proceed with misdemeanor counts instead.

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