F.B.I. agents arrested on Friday a Milwaukee judge accused of obstructing justice by directing an undocumented immigrant out of her courtroom through a side door while federal immigration agents waited in a hallway to arrest him.
The arrest of the judge, Hannah C. Dugan, quickly drew condemnation from Democratic leaders and prompted protests in the Wisconsin city.
But the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, defended the move, saying Judge Dugan’s arrest sent a “strong message” to judges that the Trump administration will prosecute them if they obstruct justice by “escorting a criminal defendant out a back door.”
And after the arrest, the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, posted a photo of her in handcuffs on X, adding, “No one is above the law.”
The arrest has raised several questions — many of which remain unanswered. Here’s what we know so far.
What happened on the day of Judge Dugan’s arrest?
On April 18, six federal officers arrived at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was there for a hearing on battery charges.
Before the hearing, a lawyer told Judge Dugan that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement were outside her courtroom, according to the criminal complaint against her. She called the situation “absurd” and left the bench.
Judge Dugan then spoke with the federal agents, telling them that they needed a judicial warrant and to speak with the chief judge of Milwaukee County.
One of the officers talked to the chief judge, Carl Ashley, who told the officer that there was a policy in the works about where in the courthouse ICE agents could arrest people. But he “emphasized that such actions should not take place in courtrooms or other private locations,” the complaint said. Chief Judge Ashley told the agent that hallways were areas where an arrest could be made.
As Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer left the courtroom, Judge Dugan told them, “Wait, come with me,” according to a courtroom deputy who overheard the interaction. The deputy saw her usher them through a door that leads to a “nonpublic” area of the courthouse, court records show.
Agents then saw Mr. Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer in a public hallway, and one agent entered an elevator with them and watched them leave the building, but did not immediately make the arrest, the complaint said. Other agents then arrested him on the street after a foot chase.
A week later, F.B.I. agents arrested Judge Dugan at the courthouse. She was charged with obstructing immigration officers and concealing someone to prevent an arrest.
Craig Mastantuono, a lawyer who represented Judge Dugan at her brief court appearance as a defendant on Friday, called her arrest “highly unusual,” noting that federal law enforcement officers could have first contacted her for questioning or asked her to turn herself in.
Who is Judge Dugan?
Judge Dugan, 65, spent much of her career providing legal services for poor people, specializing in housing and public benefits.
In 1995, she represented people who panhandled on downtown sidewalks, arguing that barring them from doing so was unconstitutional. She was elected judge in 2016 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2022. Her current term ends in 2028.
Ann Jacobs, a Milwaukee lawyer who has appeared before the judge in court, described Judge Dugan as a “very by-the-book sort of judge.”
After her court appearance on Friday, Judge Dugan was released on her own recognizance. Her legal team vowed to contest the charges. A preliminary hearing in her case is scheduled for May 15.
Who is Mr. Flores-Ruiz, and what happened in his case?
Mr. Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national in his early 30s, was at the courthouse on April 18 for a hearing on his three misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an episode in March, according to a criminal complaint against him.
Records show that Mr. Flores-Ruiz got into a fight with his roommate, who had asked him to turn down the music he was playing. The roommate said Mr. Flores-Ruiz struck him about 30 times and also hit the roommate’s girlfriend and her cousin.
But federal officials were looking to arrest Mr. Flores-Ruiz for another reason: He also faces a federal illegal re-entry charge.
Mr. Flores-Ruiz was deported from the United States in January 2013 under an order of expedited removal, which is generally issued to those who cross the border without proper documentation and are quickly detained. Martin Pruhs, his lawyer on his federal charge, said in an interview that Mr. Flores-Ruiz returned to the country soon after he was deported and has been living in Milwaukee and working as a cook for about 12 years.
Mr. Pruhs said he had no criminal record before the misdemeanor charges.
Six federal officers from four agencies — the F.B.I., ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Drug Enforcement Administration — were involved in his arrest last week. The complaint against Judge Dugan said the agents were in street clothes and planned to arrest Mr. Flores-Ruiz in a “low-key” and safe manner. It also explained that it is common for law enforcement officials to arrest people at a courthouse because they know the person they are seeking would be unarmed.
The number of agents who were present has raised questions, with some people wondering if there were too many to arrest one migrant. But others have said the number may not be highly unusual, especially if the agents were planning on making multiple arrests that day.
Mr. Flores-Ruiz is currently being held in the Ozaukee County jail in Port Washington, Wis.
What are some potential implications of the arrests?
The arrests of Judge Dugan and Mr. Flores-Ruiz have experts wondering how other immigration cases and the court system at large could be affected.
Since federal agents sought to arrest Mr. Flores-Ruiz at a courthouse, Ms. Jacobs, the Milwaukee lawyer, is concerned that undocumented people will be afraid to participate in future cases where their testimonies would be helpful.
Ms. Jacobs, who is also the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said Judge Dugan’s arrest was so “profound and unheard-of” that it was difficult to foresee how it might affect judges’ behavior. She added that it appeared designed to make judges afraid to take any position out of step with the Trump administration.
Some are worried about what this case could mean for America’s democracy and future. Ann Rohrer, a health care worker from Wauwatosa, Wis., said she thought “our democracy, our country is under attack.”
Ms. Rohrer, 62, was one of hundreds of people protesting Judge Dugan’s arrest on Saturday outside an F.B.I. building in St. Francis, Wis.
“All the things that make America great are being attacked,” she said.
Devlin Barrett, Julie Bosman and Robert Chiarito contributed reporting.
