(PatriotWise.com) — A magistrate judge in El Paso ordered the release of migrants arrested in connection to the March 21 stampede at the border that overwhelmed members of the National Guard, the El Paso Times reported.
In a video conference bond hearing on Easter Sunday, Magistrate Judge Humberto Acosta ordered the migrants’ release, accusing the El Paso District Attorney’s Office of not being prepared to proceed with the detention hearings for the defendants.
Texas Department of Public Safety arrested the mostly Venezuelan men for their involvement in the March 21 riot at the border. The men ripped down the razor wire erected along the Rio Grande and stampeded the border fence in the Riverside area of the Lower Valley.
The New York Post’s video footage of the incident went viral on social media.
Some of the migrants were charged with assaulting a public servant for fighting the Texas National Guardsmen on duty at Border Safety Initiative Marker 36.
It was not clear if the judge’s order applied to all of the migrants charged, including those charged with criminal mischief and assault, or only to those migrants charged with “riot participation,” a Class B misdemeanor.
It was also unknown how many of the migrants were arrested on the charge of riot participation. However, Judge Acosta did say that hundreds of those arrested were entitled to an individual detention hearing within 48 hours.
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Martinez requested a continuance for the bond hearings to be scheduled for a later date. However, the judge rejected the request, saying if the District Attorney’s Office was not ready to go, then all of the individuals would be released.
Later on Easter Sunday, two other migrants, including a man from Columbia, who were charged with criminal mischief, appeared in separate hearings and were each remanded on a $2,000 bond. However, Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun released the two men on personal recognizance bonds.
Court officials told the El Paso Times that the illegal migrants who have a federal immigration hold blocking their release would remain in jail.
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