Minneapolis — Four people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from clashes with federal officers in Minneapolis, including a woman accused of biting off the tip of an immigration officer’s finger.
The other three were charged in connection with threats made to FBI agents after documents containing the agents’ personal information were stolen from the vehicle.
According to sworn affidavits in those cases, FBI agents were investigating a shooting by an immigration enforcement officer on Jan. 14 when protests made the area unsafe and they had to flee on foot, leaving two of their vehicles behind. Vehicles were vandalized and broken into, and numerous items were stolen including weapons, FBI identification cards, and documents that included addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information of some FBI employees.
That personal information was then posted on social media, according to court documents, and that’s when officers began receiving threatening phone calls, text messages and emails.
Claire Louise Feng, 27, is accused of biting off the finger of a Homeland Security Investigations special agent during a Jan. 24 protest that occurred after immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretty. Feng, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was charged with assaulting a federal officer resulting in his injury.
In an affidavit filed in the case, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Bronson Day said an immigration officer was trying to arrest another protester when Feng tackled the officer. A CBP officer had Feng on the ground and was trying to secure her arms when Feng bit the officer’s gloved finger, Day wrote.
The day was very cold and the officer did not immediately realize how severe the injury was, Day wrote, but when the officer removed his glove, he realized that the tip of his ring finger had been removed, exposing the bone. He was able to get medical care within an hour, Day wrote.
Feng’s attorney, Kevin C. Riach, said she will face the charge.
“All you have to do to evaluate the credibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents when they make such allegations is to look at yesterday’s deposition in which he asserted that ICE agents made false allegations against the defendant,” Riach said. “We look forward to fighting this case and clearing Ms. Feng’s name.”
Brenna Marie Doyle, 18, of Spokane, Washington, 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 conveyance of a threat to injure a person. The indictment alleges that she left voice messages on an FBI agent’s phone threatening to kill them, their husband and their child.
Doyle has not entered a plea yet, and her attorney, Robert D. Richman They are waiting to receive evidence from the government so they can evaluate the case. He noted that Doyle lives in Washington state and has never visited Minnesota.
“There is no allegation that she ever took any steps to carry out any of these threats or come within a thousand miles of the agent,” Richman said.
James Patrick Lyons, 45, of California, was indicted on five counts of interstate communication of threats to injure a person, and Jose Alberto Ramirez, 29, of Illinois, was indicted on one count of the same charge. The two men are accused of sending threatening text messages to FBI employees.
Lawyers for Ramirez and Lyons did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Neither man had the opportunity to enter a plea.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.