Two women have been convicted of stalking an ICE agent in Los Angeles following last summer’s protests in the city.
Cynthia Raygoza, 38, and Ashleigh Brown, 38, were found guilty Friday following the incident that took place amid anti-immigration enforcement protests in August.
On August 28, Raygoza and Brown followed the agent from a federal building in downtown Los Angeles to his home, live-streaming the incident on social media and providing directions to the address, their trial was told.
They also encouraged viewers to share the stream with others, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, with clips of the stream being played at the trial.
The agent, identified during the trial as Rogelio Reyes Huitzilin, told jurors that he had been headed home to meet up with his wife and two young children for a “surprise” when he noticed the women wearing masks, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Upon arriving at the victim’s residence, shouted to bystanders while livestreaming that their “neighbor is ICE,” “la migra lives here,” and “ICE lives on your street and you should know.”
According to Essayli they also shouted racial slurs at the agent’s wife and his children had witnessed the incident.
Huitzilin said during the trial that his family had lived in fear since the incident and that they had moved out of their neighborhood, though he admitted he had not sold the property. He also said one of his sons had requested to be homeschooled and that his wife had needed therapy as a result.
However, he later admitted that no other protesters had come to his house after that day and that he had never heard from Brown and Raygoza again. It’s understood that no other similar incidents occurred at the home.
Brown and Raygoza were both found guilty of one count of stalking but acquitted of one count of conspiring to publish personal information about a federal employee. They were charged alongside a third woman, Sandra Samane, who was acquitted of both counts.
During their trial, which lasted a week, Raygoza and Brown claimed that they had believed they were following the agent to an ICE raid, rather than his home, The Times reported.
Following ICE and Border Patrol agents to enforcement sites has become a common tactic used by protesters in cities including LA, though this appears to be the first instance of a federal agent being followed and confronted at their home, according to The Times.
“We thank the jury for bringing justice to these agitators who violated the law and endangered the safety of this federal officer and his family,” Essayli said in a statement.
“Peaceful protests are protected by the Constitution, political violence and unlawful intimidation are not.”
Essayli and federal prosecutors in LA have filed more than 100 cases against protesters over the assault and hindrance of immigration agents. Despite securing 23 guilty pleas, until Friday, they had so far lost every case taken to trial.
Brown and Raygoza face up to five years in prison for their crimes and are due to be sentenced on June 8.
