Moving, shoving, cussing, negotiating: Law enforcement tactics takes center stage in Day 4 of Spokane's ICE protest trial

May 21-When Spokane police officers arrived at a mass protest at the city's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on June 11, their tactics appeared far different than the tactics of the federal agents who interacted with that crowd before them.

Video footage of the protest shows one Homeland Security Investigations agent walked directly into a crowd blocking the exit of a parking lot gate , and immediately began pushing, grabbing people by the neck and shoving them towards the ground.

Hours later, after more protesters had gathered and crowded themselves around a red U.S Customs and Border Patrol van to prevent immigrants from being taken to a Tacoma detention facility, Spokane police showed up to allow the people inside the building to safely exit.

The officers used physical force against some protesters after some refused commands to move. Other times, police also attempted to have productive discussions with protesters to prevent more arrests.

Both sides of law enforcement took center stage at the trial of Bajun Mavalwalla II, Justice Forral and Jac Archer, three protesters accused of conspiring against ICE agents during a mass protest in June. The protest took shape after former City Council President Ben Stuckart posted a plea for people to come sit in front of a white transport van with him to prevent two legal, asylum-seeking immigrants from being taken to a Tacoma detention center.

Here's what local and federal law enforcement had to say about it.

Greg McSullivan, Homeland Security Investigations agent

Greg McSullivan, who was wearing a mask that day, walked outside the facility with other agents to confront protesters at the south gate of a parking lot outside the ICE facility at 411 W. Cataldo Ave. He said agents had called local police for help, but they did not show up. It was likely because police leadership told them to wait it out, other witnesses implied on the stand.

McSullivan walked directly into the crowd and began pushing, shoving and grabbing people.

When shown video of his interactions with protesters he acknowledged on the stand he did not hear himself giving commands.

He instead is heard on video footage saying something like "get out of the way" at the same time he puts his hands on people. A video that has been played in the trial multiple times of him grabbing the neck of a protester and shoving their head down was played again.

McSullivan testified he grabbed the person's head because it was the most "available" body part to grab. McSullivan said he did this to get people away from the gate so agents could leave and meet up with other agents and come up with a different plan. He also acknowledged on the stand he was pushed into Mavalwalla II, whose body collided with another agent standing behind him. That agent is shown grabbing Mavalwalla II's arm.

Keith Gonsalves, Spokane Police Department sergeant

Gonsalves is one of the Spokane police officers who traveled to Ohio to develop the department's dialogue unit. It's a unit focused on initiating relationships with protesters to facilitate a safe and nonviolent expression of their First Amendment rights, The Spokesman-Review previously reported. That unit didn't respond in the unit's recognizable light blue uniforms because the unit was so new at the time. Some officers did use the same dialogue-driven tactics they had been taught, though.

Video taken by The Spokesman-Review at the protest that day shows Officer Karl Richardson talking calmly with protesters who had linked arms around a red Border Patrol van to prevent it from taking the immigrants to Tacoma. A protester jumped on him, which appeared to deeply startle him. Instead of reacting with force, Richardson laughed with the protester as she skipped away. He also laughed with the officers around him about how startling it was.

Gonsalves, who was not working on June 11, was called in to assist in the response to get people safely out of the ICE building. He drove there in an unmarked car to observe what was going on with binoculars, he said. People began circling his car so he drove away to contact his supervisors and come up with a plan. Police agreed they would create two skirmish lines, where police line up shoulder-to-shoulder to direct people to one spot.

The team gave protesters multiple warnings. Gonsalves said, "We need you to move back, we need to create some space here." The goal was to encourage them to keep exercising their First Amendment rights safely but without telling them to leave, just move slightly in a different direction, he said.

Some people refused to move, so police grabbed their arms and guided them farther back from the skirmish line. It caused some resistance with a few people, according to video footage.

John LaForte, Department of Homeland Security attaché

June 11 was LaForte's last day at the Spokane location. He was about to move overseas, he said.

When he saw a crowd outside, he called Spokane police. Police allegedly asked if the agents had another option to get out of the building, LaForte said. He and other agents eventually walked to the south parking lot gate in a plan to drive out of the lot and meet up with a Border Patrol bus. He said the agents "pretty quickly got overwhelmed" with the crowd, around 30-40 people. The agents are shown inserting themselves into the crowd and within seconds, begin using physical force.

"We started pulling people away from the gate and pushing them back," he said, adding there wasn't "really any" de-escalation toward the crowd, but that "at some point you have to physically remove people."

When LaForte and other agents abandoned the idea of trying to leave out of the gate, they closed it and walked out another gate around the other side. That was when LaForte saw someone in a baseball cap standing in the sidewalk and "flipped" the hat off the person's head in frustration, told the court.

Shortly after, defense attorneys played a video of Stuckart with a megaphone telling people to remain nonviolent that day.

"It doesn't do us any good when police show up if we are confrontational," Stuckart said to the crowd. "The last thing anyone wants is for it to be out of control."

A video of Archer talking to the crowd was also played. Archer, an organizer for Spokane Community Against Racism, said into a megaphone, "Folks who are willing to risk arrest ... Do a huddle. We want to keep track of each other. We want to make sure we are all prepared the way we need to be."

Tyler Heiman, Spokane Police tactical officer

Tyler Heiman was shown in the crowd near a red Border Patrol van at the facility. The van was also crowded with protesters and the tires were slashed, rendering it inoperable. Heiman was part of the skirmish line. He is shown in Spokesman-Review footage negotiating with protesters and asking them if they would be able to relax and discuss moving elsewhere.

In his body camera footage, Heiman is also shown using gestures to try and "get them to calm down" in an "attempt to de-escalate them," he said.

Heiman and Forral know each other from past encounters, the footage appears to show. Forral is seen yelling Heiman's name and referring to him as "T-dog" while carrying an object and banging it on a post. Heiman identified the object as a "steering wheel club." Forral is heard in the video saying "I'll keep it peaceful until it's not" and "block the doors." Heiman appeared to acknowledge Forral but kept his distance. He eventually began to ignore the protesters and moved to speak with other officers.

In another video, Heiman is shown telling a woman, who screamed at him to assault her, that he needed her to move back. He attempted to move people around her to create more space between them, but the crowd began pushing back.

"It was just too chaotic," Heiman said. He and other members of his team were uninjured in the crowd.

Brittan Morgan, Spokane County Sheriff's deputy

Brittan Morgan was called in on his day off on June 11. He was upset about it, he told the court.

He ran lights and sirens to get from where he was to the protest, Morgan said. He was driving nearly 100 mph and playing metal music to make him feel good, he added.

When he arrived, he thought his body camera was turned off. Morgan is heard saying, "God, I hope they do some (expletive). I want to hit someone with a stick today. This is my only day off, you f - -ing (expletive)."

Court documents also states he repeated the derogatory word for women: "I cannot tell you how pissed off that I'm here right now. Not that I don't want to be here, I'd love to hit someone with a stick, but this is my only day off, you f - -ing (expletive)."

Morgan told the court he was regretful and apologetic for making those comments. He received a disciplinary letter in his personnel file for "conduct unbecoming" over the comments and also a letter for driving at a high rate of speed.

"I was spouting off at the mouth to relieve steam. I said it and I can't take it back," Morgan said in court. "I was venting. I didn't even have my stick that day. It was me spouting off."

Morgan later showed up near the red van and stood facing the protesters, with a less lethal weapon that shoots foam bullets. Forral began yelling near Morgan and eventually shoved him, Morgan said. He shoved back. Morgan then pointed the foam bullet weapon toward Forral. Morgan said he was pointing it in "low-ready" or pointing it at someone's feet to get ready to shoot in case they needed to.

Morgan is slated to be up on the stand again Friday morning for cross-examination.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 11:38 PM.