4 indicted after Minneapolis clashes, including a woman accused of biting off an officer’s fingertip
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Four people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from confrontations with federal authorities in Minneapolis; Among them is a woman accused of biting off the fingertip of an immigration officer.
Three other people were charged in connection with threats made to FBI agents after documents containing the agents’ personal information were stolen from a vehicle.
According to affidavits filed in those cases, FBI agents were investigating a shooting by an Immigration Customs Enforcement Officer on January 14. The protests made the area unsafe and they were forced to flee on foot, leaving their two vehicles behind. Vehicles were vandalized and broken into, and many things were stolen, including guns, FBI identification cards, and documents containing the addresses, telephone numbers, and other personal information of some FBI employees.
That personal information was later posted on social media, and that’s when officers began receiving threatening phone calls, texts and emails, according to court documents.
Woman accused of biting off immigration officer’s fingertip
Claire Louise Feng, 27, is accused of biting off the fingertip of a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations during a Jan. 24 protest after immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti. St. Feng, who is from St. Paul, Minnesota, was charged with assaulting a federal officer, causing injury.
Homeland Security Investigations special agent Bronson Day said in an affidavit filed in the case that an immigration officer tried to arrest another protester while Feng struggled with the officer. A Customs and Border Protection officer pinned Feng to the ground, and as he tried to protect his arms, Feng bit the officer’s finger through a glove, Day wrote.
Day wrote that the day was so cold that the officer did not immediately realize the severity of the injury, but when the officer took off his glove, he noticed that the tip of his ring finger had been removed, exposing the bone. Day wrote that he was able to receive medical attention within an hour.
Feng’s attorney, Kevin C. Riach, said he would fight the charge.
“All you have to do to evaluate the credibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in making these types of allegations is to look at yesterday’s dismissal decision confirming that ICE agents made false allegations against a defendant,” Riach said. “We look forward to fighting this case and clearing Ms. Feng’s name.”
3 people accused of threatening FBI agents
Brenna Marie Doyle, 18, of Spokane, Wash., was charged Thursday with threatening to kill a federal law enforcement officer, threatening to kill a family member of a federal law enforcement officer, and interstate transmitting a threat to harm a person. The indictment alleges that the woman left voice messages on the FBI agent’s phone threatening to kill themselves, their spouses and children.
Doyle has not yet entered a plea, and his attorney, Robert D. Richman, said they are waiting to receive evidence from the government so they can consider the case. He noted that Doyle lives in Washington state and has never been to Minnesota.
“There is no allegation that he took any steps to carry out any of these threats or come within thousands of miles of the agent,” Richman said.
James Patrick Lyons, 45, of California, was indicted on five counts of interstate transmission of threats intended to injure a person, and Jose Alberto Ramirez, 29, of Illinois was indicted on the same charge. Both men are accused of sending threatening messages to FBI employees.
Lawyers for Ramirez and Lyons did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Neither man had the opportunity to defend.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
