Wisconsin state judge Hannah Dugan was convicted Thursday on a felony charge of obstructing federal agents as they attempted to arrest an undocumented immigrant outside her Milwaukee courtroom earlier this year.
Dugan was acquitted of a charge of concealing a person from arrest, the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal reports. The split verdict came after nearly seven hours of deliberation by the jury of five women and seven men.
Dugan, 66, is facing up to five years in prison, and as a convicted felon, will likely not be able to retain her office as a judge following her conviction.
In April, Dugan was preparing to preside over a set of misdemeanor cases when she learned ICE agents were gathered outside her courtroom waiting to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 31-year-old undocumented immigrant who was facing domestic battery charges.
Dugan went into the hallway and told the agents to go to a different judge's office. Back in her courtroom, Dugan told Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave through a side door for staff. Agents saw Flores-Ruiz in a public hallway, chased him on foot and arrested him. A week later, Dugan was arrested and led out of the courthouse in handcuffs. Flores-Ruiz was later deported.
Dugan was subsequently placed on administrative leave and was temporarily removed from the bench, although she continued to collect her salary.
Steve Biskupic, one of the lawyers who represented Dugan, said the case was "a long way from over." Her legal team plans to appeal the verdict.
U.S. Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche celebrated Dugan's conviction on Xand claimed she'd "betrayed her oath."
@yapwlauryn via Storyful / Liban Show of Minneapolis via Storyful
ICE’s aggressive immigration raids are still disrupting cities across the country ... and shocking new video shows just how violent agents are getting ... with agents seen dragging a pregnant woman in the snow and slush-covered street.
As you can see, the woman was pinned down, slapped in handcuffs, and dragged by her arm by an ICE agent in South Minneapolis Monday as a crowd gathers to confront the agents in a heated scene -- as angry neighbors repeatedly shouted that woman is expecting.
The panicked agents could clearly hear the desperate pleas, but chose to ignore them ... because beyond the disturbing footage of her being dragged, another clip shows another ICE agent kneeling on the woman as she lay on the ground.
Karoline Leavitt can call herself whatever she wants, but it doesn't mean she's acting like a righteous woman ... so says the mother of her nephew and godson, who was detained last month.
Bruna Caroline Ferreira appeared on Erin Burnett's CNN show Friday ... and, she laid into the White House press secretary -- telling Erin she'd want to tell Karoline, "Just because you went to a Catholic school doesn't make you a good Catholic."
She added, "You are a mother now. How would you feel if you were ... in my shoes?" Karoline and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, welcomed their first child together in July 2024.
Ferreira also notes she and Michael Leavitt -- Karoline's brother -- chose KL to be her son's godmother instead of her own sister ... almost certainly deepening feelings of betrayal.
If SZA was trying piss off the White House with her stinging jab for using her music in a pro-ICE ad, then the singer failed miserably -- because the WH loved every bit of her criticism!
First the back story … the White House posted a video to its X account Monday to promote the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
In the clip, you see armed ICE agents ready for combat rounding up immigrants, coupled with a caption referencing SZA’s tune, "Big Boy," which includes the lyrics "it's cuffing season." The WH's caption read ... “We heard it’s cuffing szn. Bad news for criminal illegal aliens. Great news for America.”
Sabrina Carpenter might find herself in a game of Whack-a-Mole with the White House ... after she seemingly influenced them to take down a post using her music, the administration has now posted a new video using her image.
The PSA in question was posted Friday on X. In it, the White House wrote, "If you're a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported."
The message accompanied a clip from a "Saturday Night Live" promo Sabrina did with cast member Marcello Hernandez. In the promo, she pretends to arrest the comedian for being too hot -- a bit she does with audience members at her live shows. But the WH edited the clip, recording the word "illegal" over Sabrina saying "hot."
If Jesus comes to the U.S., he'd better have a valid visa ... at least that's the worry of an Illinois church that's installed a controversial Nativity scene depicting the baby messiah zip-tied in a manger.
Lake Street Church of Evanston -- just north of Chicago -- reimagined the Nativity with masked centurions wearing green vests labeled "ICE" surrounding the Holy Family. Mother Mary and Joseph wear respirator masks to shield themselves from tear gas, according to the church.
In a Facebook post, the church explained the scene is meant to draw "direct parallels between the Holy Family's refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices." The book of Matthew claims Jesus and his parents fled to Egypt in order to escape King Herod's order that every boy in Bethlehem under 2 be executed.
Never-before-seen footage shows the moment ICE agents arrested a woman with family ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
TMZ obtained video showing Bruna Caroline Ferreira, the mother of Karoline's nephew, being swarmed by federal immigration agents last month in Massachusetts.
Surveillance footage shows Ferreira, who is from Brazil, in a sedan leaving her condo in Revere, Mass around 12:30 PM on November 12 ... when all of a sudden her path is blocked by five unmarked vehicles.
9:09 AM PT -- A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, tells TMZ ... “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
Sabrina Carpenter is fired up and firing back ... after The White House’s social account used her sexually suggestive hit to hype up the administration’s deportation push.
Commenting under the offending X post Tuesday, Sabrina torched the video of arrests set to her hit "Juno," calling it "evil and disgusting" ... and warning, "Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda."
In the video, they grabbed the saucy lyrics "Have you ever tried this one?" ... the same line Sabrina used to demo a new sex position at every stop of her Short n' Sweet Tour.
Sabrina Carpenter is the latest pop artist to have her song be used by The White House's social media account to promote the administration's deportation efforts in America ... but has this one taken it too far?
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The latest feed-worthy video is a montage of several arrests made by the Department of Homeland Security, soundtracked to Sabrina's hit song "Juno" ... with the lyrics "have you ever tried this one?" -- making fun of each detainee's physical position as they're getting arrested.
If you're unfamiliar ... after she sang the lyric in concert, Sabrina demonstrated a different sex position on each stop of her recently wrapped Short n' Sweet Tour.
Danny Trejo had some sage advice when we caught up with him Wednesday afternoon at the L.A. Mission ... no matter what, don't lose hope.
The 81-year-old movie star chatted with us while volunteering to help families struggling this Thanksgiving. He says helping people has been key to his happiness.
"Seeking Sister Wife" star Garrick Merrifield was arrested Monday for domestic violence against his wife ... and now we've uncovered explosive details on the dramatic incident, including a threat to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to an affidavit for arrest warrant, obtained by TMZ, Garrick's wife, Larrana, told police her husband snatched her phone during a heated argument, refusing to allow her to contact her family in Brazil.
The docs say Larrana informed Garrick she wanted to call police, but he wouldn't give her phone back, and he threatened to call ICE. Larrana told cops she was terrified because she isn't familiar with all the laws, even though she's in the country legally on a visa.
A woman with ties to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's family is reportedly in ICE custody after being arrested earlier this month.
The woman, Bruna Caroline Ferreira, is from Brazil and the mother of Leavitt's nephew ... she was arrested near Boston on November 12, according to her attorney, who spoke with CNN.
The outlet reports Leavitt's nephew lives full-time in New Hampshire with her brother, Michael. Meanwhile, Karoline has apparently not spoken to Ferreira in years.
4:40 PM PT -- A spokesperson for DHS tells TMZ ... “America is grateful all the time for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe. We suggest Ms. Rodrigo thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice.”
It also appears that Olivia's comment has since been deleted from the post -- unclear by whom.
Olivia Rodrigo is an all-American bitch, but not the kind who supports what she sees as "racist, hateful propaganda" from the White House and Department of Homeland Security ... she's blasting the feds for using her music in a deportation video.
Here's the deal ... the official Instagram accounts for the White House and the DHS posted a new video on their IG pages this week, showing people being arrested and deported by ICE. The video also showed folks self deporting as Olivia's "All-American Bitch" plays.
Olivia caught wind that her song was being used in the content and she left a scathing reply on the post, saying ... "don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda."
A manager at Laugh Factory Chicago was arrested by masked federal agents ... and, the wild encounter with law enforcement was caught on video.
Night manager Nathan Griffin was arrested Friday morning outside the club ... and, the clips shows officers slamming him to the ground while onlookers scream hysterically.
Griffin was ultimately subdued and thrown into the back of a white SUV while people demanded to know where the masked agents were taking Griffin.
Thousands of demonstrations are taking place around the world today ... with protesters flooding the streets in opposition to the Trump administration.
New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis and many more major areas are playing host to protests today -- and, activists are shaking signs and even dressing up in costume to make their point.
Protesters gathered in Chicago's Millennium Parkoutside the famous Cloudgate statue ... with one person holding a sign of Trump dancing with "Party Like It's 1939" written underneath -- a reference to the comparison between DJT and Adolf Hitler some have made in the past.
Musician and comedian Robby Roadsteamer was arrested outside an ICE facility during a protest in Portland, Oregon -- while dressed as a giraffe -- and the feds are explaining what led up to the bust.
Video of Robby's Wednesday arrest went viral ... it shows him singing outside a federal building in the city, alongside a bunch of protesters ... when federal agents come out and grab him and take him inside.
Honchos at the Department of Homeland Security tell TMZ ... "This deceptively clipped video features this attention-starved influencer who flew all the way from Massachusetts to trespass on federal property."
