An anti-immigration enforcement protester was acquitted Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles of a misdemeanor assault charge alleging he struck a federal officer during a June demonstration.
Brayan Ramos-Brito was the first of dozens of people accused of impeding or attacking federal agents during Los Angeles area immigration-raid protests to go to trial in L.A. federal court.
He was originally charged with a felony assault charge stemming from a June 7 protest in Paramount, but the charge was subsequently reduced to a misdemeanor count of simple assault on a federal officer. Ramos-Brito was acquitted of the charge Wednesday following a two-day trial.
During the trial earlier Wednesday, prosecutors called U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino to the stand to testify that he saw Ramos-Brito assault an officer during the protest outside the Paramount Business Center, striking the officer in the chest, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to The Times, a defense attorney questioned Bovino on cross-examination about a reprimand he received several years ago for referring to people in the country illegally as “scum, filth and trash.”
Bovino insisted he was referring to one particular “criminal illegal alien” with the remark, but the defense attorney said the reprimand states he used the phrase to describe “illegal aliens.”
The trial also included a display of multiple videos showing Ramos-Brito at the June 7 protest, including one showing him being shoved by a Border Patrol officer, but none clearly showed him striking an federal agent, The Times reported.
Jurors deliberated for a little voer an hour before acquitting him.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case.