As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now, the rest of the story." KGW8 reports that a "Spokane man" faces assault charges after allegedly elbowing an ICE agent in the face during his detention. "Martin Diaz now faces an assault charge that potentially carries a 20-year prison sentence, but the court … was focused on whether he should be released or kept in federal custody until his trial date," they report.
Surprisingly, English professor Jennifer Wren demands justice for Diaz.
Her post continues:
… warrant, no ID, and no regard for the law. His wife wasn’t home, but a roommate filmed everything. When he asked for badge numbers, agents said, “None of your business.” Then they assaulted Martin and dragged him away.
Now ICE is charging him with assault. But the video tells the truth. This is what ICE does—lie, escalate, and disappear people. Kendall Diaz spoke out at the Spokane Fights Back rally. We echo her call: Deportation is not an option. We demand justice.
#OnYourSide #DemsUnited
Ah, the video tells the truth, just like the ICE bodycam video shows how ICE manhandled Rep. LaMonica McIver and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman as they tried to tour that ICE detention facility in New Jersey as part of their "oversight" duties.
Thomas Clouse and Alexandra Duggan report for The Chronicle under the headline, "Man without a country: ICE arrests Washington state resident brought to America as toddler":
But a week after his 18th birthday, Martin Diaz got arrested in a case that continues to complicate his efforts achieve legal status.
On Nov. 1, 2007, Diaz was initially charged with third-degree rape when a girl alleged that the couple had sex without her consent. Diaz later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentenced to a couple months in jail.
That prompted what's called an "order of removal" regarding his legal status. In an effort to continue his efforts to get legal status, Diaz and his attorney, Frick, sought to have the order of removal vacated, but have been unsuccessful.
Diaz filed for divorce from his first wife in 2015. But in 2017, Diaz had another scrape with the law that landed him a second felony conviction.
Diaz was charged with felony domestic violence, but the victim was not his ex-wife. It was his ex-wife's father.
Kendal Diaz explained that the ex-wife wanted Diaz to leave her house and he refused. She called her father to help and he and Diaz got into a fight in the front yard.
Huh, breaking the law complicated his efforts to achieve legal status. That sounds like his problem.
KGW8 reports that "his defense also said that during his previous criminal charges, Diaz always appeared in court when ordered to and had no issues when he did serve jail time."
Man without a country … he was brought here illegally by his parents as a toddler and grew up to be a rapist. He has a country and he's going back to it.