El Paso judge dismisses 140 'riot' charges against migrants

A Texas judge has decided that there was "no probable cause" for the arrest of 140 migrants by Operation Lone Star Forces.

Despite that, El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks indicted the migrants on misdemeanor riot participation charges.

A county court judge had decided that the migrants wouldn't be facing any charges, but citizens of the community did not agree.

When the district attorney's office presented the allegations against the migrants to a grand jury of 12 El Paso community members, the migrants were indicted.

The charges are in connection with a "riot" at the border fence near El Paso's Lower Valley on April 12.

So how did the judge see things one way, and the grand jury see things another way?

For one, we know that the grand jury was made up of residents of the community impacted by our border problem, so they have an interest in doing what's best for their community.

Second, the judge and the jury were looking at different sets of evidence:

"We took all 141 of those cases to a grand jury this morning," Hicks said. "Because the judge's ruling was limited to the complaint affidavit in front of him, it allowed us to take the broader case to the grand jury."