Spokane ICE protester trial: Were they bad decisions or was it a conspiracy?

May 20-The actions of three protesters on trial this week in Spokane were chaotic in the minds of their defense attorneys. But prosecutors believe their tactics amounted to a conspiracy.

"It's not about whether every decision that day was wise ... You may conclude it was loud, tense ... chaotic. But this courtroom is not the place to punish protesters' frustration or emotion," defense attorney Amy Rubin said in opening statements Tuesday. "The government chose to charge this as a criminal agreement. And one thing will remain missing from the government's story: an agreement."

That was the tactic that all defense attorneys took during the opening statements in the federal trial of military veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II, who was arrested four days after the protest; activist and Gonzaga University Law School alum Jac Archer and activist Justice Forral.

The three are charged with conspiracy to impede or injure U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the protest last summer outside the ICE facility at 411. W. Cataldo Ave. The protest began after former City Council President Ben Stuckart posted a call to action asking people to sit in front of a bus with him to prevent the immigrants from being taken to a detention center in Tacoma. The bus was taking two legal immigrants to a Tacoma detention center.

The day grew chaotic - smoke canisters were deployed, there were multiple emotional scuffles in crowds of people and around 30 people were arrested for their role in the protest, The Spokesman-Review reported.

Nine people were charged in federal court; six of them pleaded guilty.

A jury of eight women and six men were seated Tuesday and will determine if the remaining three protesters are guilty of a conspiracy.

It is not enough to prove conspiracy if defendants talked about common interests, helped one another or acted similar, the jury instructions say. Mavalwalla II's attorney Matt Duggan, a former assistant U.S. attorney , said the case is rare because almost the entire incident during the protest was captured on video. He encouraged the jury to pay attention to it.

In the government's opening statements Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Perez argued Forral, captured on video parking a car in front of the transport bus was impeding ICE agents. Prosecutors argued Archer, who had experience managing protests for Spokane Community Against Racism, was walking around with a clipboard and a megaphone to organize. They had posted on Facebook that day to "COME DOWN NOW" because they needed "more bodies" and that people were risking arrest.

Mavalwalla II, the government argued, was sprinting beside a parking lot to prevent the ICE agents from leaving. A person identified as Mavalwalla II stood in front of the agents' cars, the government showed on video. In response, the agents were compelled to use force to break the line of protesters blocking the exit, Perez said. Forral also is captured on video blocking the gate with park benches, the government showed in court Wednesday.

"They were organized, they worked together to block exits," she told the jury. "And because of the force of threats and intimidation used ... Police were forced to use force in return."

ICE agent video caused some stunning expressions

The government's first witness was FBI Agent Ethan Hawks, who previously was an agent for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Hawks was responsible for reviewing the footage of the protest and identifying any criminal behavior, he said. Most of the footage consisted of drone footage from Spokane Police Department.

The crowd at the beginning of the protest was mostly stationary. They held signs outside of the ICE facility and sat in front of the white bus that was supposed to carry the two immigrants to Tacoma. Someone spray-painted the bus window later, rendering it inoperable.

Throughout more video, Archer was identified talking to protesters and holding a clipboard and a megaphone. Forral is shown in video appearing to be deflating tires on the white bus. Mavalwalla II is at the south parking lot gate with other protesters, chanting at the agents trying to leave and standing in front of the gate. Later, the agent identifies him on drone footage through a cloud of smoke, walking in the middle of the street and holding an umbrella.

Hawks also said that he was able to pull messages from Mavawalla II's phone showing he was on Reddit that day discussing the protest with other people.

Defense attorney Anie Ahmed, a former Eastern Washington assistant U.S. attorney, asked Hawks if Mavalwalla II discussed in the messages anything criminal. Hawks said no, but that he saw him on video footage kick a smoke canister in the direction of police. Ahmed challenged the notion during questioning that Mavalwalla II may have been far enough away from police at the time that he could have been kicking the canister away from himself instead of at police.

That's when Ahmed changed gears.

Ahmed showed multiple witness videos of protesters scuffling with ICE agents at the south gate of the parking lot, south of the ICE building. One video in particular elicited a strong reaction from people in the gallery and even the jury - a video of a masked ICE agent at the south gate, next to the crowd, grabbing a person by the neck and forcefully shoving their head towards the ground.

A few gasps were heard in the gallery. Some covered their mouths. A few jurors expressed a shocked look on their faces.

Hawks said the agents had to use force to remove the people from the gate's exit.

"If the crowd moved out of the way, there would have been no reason to use (force)," Hawks said. "I don't see this as abnormal."

Archer's attorney Andrew Wagley then got up and played a video of someone they identified as Archer in the middle of the crowd. The video shows someone appearing to be Archer being pushed to the ground by an ICE agent.

Wagley asked Hawks if he saw Archer in the video being pushed to the ground. Hawks said it "appears that Archer falls down."

One woman on the jury, voiced her doubt: "Falls?!" she said loud enough for the courtroom to hear.

The ICE agents aat the center of the incident are expected to testify this week, along with multiple Spokane police officers and some Spokane County Sheriff's Office deputies. One deputy slated to testify is also expected to face a video of himself allegedly expressing how he wanted to hit protesters with sticks, The Spokesman-Review previously reported. The trial will continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Editor's note: This story was changed on May 20, 2026, to correct the name of the defense attorney who addressed the court about Jac Archer being thrown to the ground. Defense attorney Andrew Wagley asked about Archer being thrown to the ground. That information was incorrectly attributed in an earlier version of this report.

Reporter Alexandra Duggan and defense attorney Matt Duggan are not related.

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