Newly released video footage appears to show Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan speaking with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Milwaukee County Courthouse before she allegedly directed an illegal immigrant defendant to leave through a private exit.
Dugan, 65, was indicted last month on federal charges of obstruction of proceedings before a U.S. agency and unlawful concealment of an individual subject to arrest.
Federal prosecutors allege that the Milwaukee Circuit Court judge personally escorted Mexican illegal immigrant and domestic battery suspect Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse in April while ICE agents were attempting to serve a warrant.
The surveillance footage, released by Milwaukee County in response to an open records request, appears to show Dugan, wearing her black robe, confronting ICE agents in the courthouse hallway.
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The surveillance footage released by Milwaukee County appears to show Judge Hannah Dugan, left, confronting ICE agents in the courthouse hallway. (Milwaukee County)
Federal prosecutors say members of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), along with federal partners from the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were preparing to serve Flores-Ruiz with a warrant in a public courthouse hallway on April 18 before his scheduled court appearance with Dugan.
After becoming aware of what federal officials described as a valid immigration arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly told agents that they needed a judicial warrant and told them to go to the chief judge’s office.
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Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly told agents that they needed a judicial warrant and told them to go to the chief judge’s office. (Milwaukee County)
The agents then left their place in the hallway, at which point Dugan allegedly chose not to hold a hearing for Flores-Ruiz and “personally escorted” the suspect and his attorney through a private exit while the victims of his alleged crimes were in the courthouse at the time, the Justice Department said in a press release.
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Video footage appears to show Eduardo Flores-Ruiz exiting the courthouse with his attorney, while an ICE agent follows him, and then running alongside the building for about a block before agents capture and arrest him. (Milwaukee County)
A federal indictment accuses Dugan of “falsely” telling federal officials in April that they needed a warrant to come into her courtroom during a scheduled appearance by Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican national facing three misdemeanor battery charges.
Video footage appears to show Flores-Ruiz exiting the courthouse with his attorney, while an ICE agent follows him, and then running alongside the building for about a block before agents capture and arrest him.
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Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan. (DHS/Milwaukee Independent via AP)
Federal officials arrested Dugan a week after the courthouse incident.
Dugan faces a maximum sentence of six years. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her. Fox News Digital has reached out to her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, for comment on the footage.
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Last month, Dugan’s legal team also filed a motion to dismiss the federal case against her, saying the judge “is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts.”
“Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset,” the motion said.
