Appeals court declines to reimpose limits on federal agents’ responses at Minnesota protests

A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to reimpose limits on federal agents in Minnesota after the shooting over the weekend.The court on Monday sided with the Trump administration and against the American Civil Liberties Union, ruling that limits imposed by a federal judge earlier this month were too broad and vague, The Hill news outlet reported.
“A wrong call could end in contempt, yet there is little in the order that constrains the district court’s power to impose it,” the panel wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The three judges on the panel were U.S. Circuit Judges Raymond Gruender and Bobby Shepherd, who were both appointed by former President George W. Bush, and U.S. Circuit Judge David Stras, who was appointed by President Trump.
Separately, Gruender wrote that he would have reimposed the judge’s restriction preventing federal agents from using pepper spray on peaceful demonstrators, saying that part was specific enough. 
“That directive is not an improperly vague ‘obey the law’ injunction and should not be stayed pending appeal,” he wrote.  
The ruling is in effect until the appellate court resolves the administration’s appeal, which will be expedited. 
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, a Biden appointee, had blocked federal personnel responding to protests in Minnesota from retaliating against peaceful demonstrators or using pepper spray and “similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools” against them.
According to the Trump administration, Menendez had no authority to impose the restrictions, which it claimed endangered immigration officers and public safety. 
Before a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday amid an anti-ICE protest, the administration had already commenced an emergency appeal. By then, the appeals court had agreed to briefly put Menendez’s restrictions on hold until the next stage of the litigation. After the shooting, the ACLU went back to court over the weekend, urging the 8th Circuit to restore the restrictions in “light of escalating, imminent risks.”
Monday’s ruling did not mention the shooting.  
“As federal agents claim they can act with impunity and kill people in our streets, this ruling is incredibly disappointing,” ACLU of Minnesota Executive Director Deepinder Mayell said in a statement. “But, we’ll be clear: Minnesotans have the right to safely assemble, document, and protest federal immigration agents actions in our communities and we will continue to work to ensure all Minnesotans are able to exercise those rights without fear of being harmed by ICE or any other government actor.”

Read Full Article: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/appeals-court-refuses-reimpose-limits-federal-agents-minnesota-after-shooting?utm_source=justthenews.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=external-news-aggregators