Meet Bajun Mavalwalla, Veteran Convicted for ICE Protest in Unprecedented Use of Conspiracy Charges

A federal jury last week convicted three people on felony conspiracy charges over their involvement in an anti-ICE protest in Spokane, Washington, last June. The “Spokane Three” are awaiting sentencing and face up to six years in prison for conspiracy to impede or injure ICE officers. They had attempted to block the transfer of a group of detained immigrants by sitting in front of a bus. Six of the nine protesters originally charged took plea deals, but the Spokane Three decided to fight the charges.

“If I had taken a plea deal, it would have essentially been me lying and saying that I did something that I didn’t do. I didn’t assault anybody,” says Bajun Mavalwalla, a U.S. military veteran and one of the Spokane Three.

“What we have here is a really large reach of the conspiracy statute,” adds journalist and author Aaron Glantz, highlighting that no officers were hurt in the June protest. “What happened was a relatively minor demonstration.”