Local DC cases are landing in federal courts. A judge says the results
are problematic
[August 27, 2025]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing “the most illegal search I have ever seen in my
life,” a magistrate judge is upbraiding the federal government for the
way it has handled arrests in the District of Columbia this month and
says the possible effects — violations of rights and the potential for
illicit detentions — are not legally acceptable.
“We don’t just charge people criminally, throw them in the jail for a
few weeks and then bring them in here and say, ‘Oops, my bad,’” Judge
Zia Faruqui said from the bench Monday. “I have never ever in my life
seen something close to the illegality of this search.”
He spoke during a series of hearings this week for people who landed in
federal courtrooms on the direction of the Justice Department on charges
that, in most jurisdictions, would be handled by local authorities.
Over a very odd two weeks, hundreds have been arrested since President
Donald Trump's crime crackdown flooded the nation's capital with federal
agents and troops. What's happening to them after their arrests is
alarming many defense attorneys — and at least one judge — as the cases
stack up in federal courtrooms.
Some people facing nonviolent charges have remained jailed for days in
Washington while waiting for their initial court appearances. Their
lawyers believe the government is prosecuting lower-level cases that are
typically handled by local authorities and don't belong in federal court
— or any court.
The White House says over 1,000 people have been arrested since the
operation started Aug. 7. They’re facing a wide range of charges,
including assaulting law-enforcement officers and illegal possession of
drugs and firearms. Nearly half of the arrests are for immigration
cases, according to one list circulated by law enforcement.
Approximately 20 people arrested during surge-related patrols have been
charged in federal district court, according to an Associated Press
review of court records. Many other cases are going to D.C. Superior
Court, which handles less serious local offenses.
One case has already been dropped
Federal prosecutors already have dropped a case amid complaints that the
man was illegally searched.
Torez Riley was walking toward a Trader Joe’s in Washington last Monday
when he was followed by a team of police officers and federal agents on
patrol. The officers said they followed him into the store and found two
unregistered guns inside his satchel. Riley was charged with being a
felon in possession of firearms.
During a hearing Monday, Magistrate Judge Faruqui said he was
“absolutely flabbergasted” that Riley was jailed for a week before
prosecutors elected to drop the case. Faruqui, a former prosecutor, said
it appears that the officers stopped Riley, a Black man, solely because
his satchel appeared to be weighed down by something heavy.
“It is without a doubt the most illegal search I have ever seen in my
life,” Faruqui said, according to a transcript. “A high school student
would know that this was an illegal search.”
Defense attorney Elizabeth Mullin said Riley shouldn't have been
arrested in the first place.
“They didn’t have probable cause or reasonable suspicion. They just
stopped him because he was walking into a Trader Joe’s getting something
to eat after work,” Mullin said during an interview.
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On Monday, a prosecutor from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office
said they decided that dropping the case against Riley was “in the
interest of justice” after reviewing the case in greater depth. A
spokesperson for Pirro’s office said she ordered the case’s
dismissal after she saw video footage captured by police body
cameras.
Faruqui made it clear Monday that he believes Pirro's office
mishandled Riley's case.
“I have not seen a search that even remotely comes close to this.
This would not pass muster for a first-year law school hypothetical
exam to give both sides. It is blatantly illegal,” he said.
The magistrate judge's rebuke drew a sharp response from Pirro, a
former Fox News host whom Trump appointed in May.
“This judge has a long history of bending over backwards to release
dangerous felons in possession of firearms, and on frequent
occasions, he has downplayed the seriousness of felons who possess
illegal firearms and the danger they pose to our community,” Pirro
said in a statement.
Judge calls for ‘protection of human dignity’
Faruqui expressed more outrage about the surge’s impact on the
city’s criminal justice system during a hearing Tuesday for another
case. The defendant, Darious Phillips, was arrested on a gun charge
last Thursday and remained in custody five days later. He missed
Tuesday's hearing due to “mental health struggles” in jail, Faruqui
said.
“It’s not zero sum. If there is a surge in prosecutions, there has
to be a surge in the protection of human dignity,” he said.
Phillips' attorney, Tezira Abe, said her client is “very obviously a
victim of this incursion in D.C.” by federal authorities. “We know
how specious these arrests have been lately,” Abe said.
Phillips is due back on court on Wednesday. Prosecutors argued that
Phillips, who served a five-year prison sentence for shooting a man
at a gas station in 2018, has shown that he remains a danger to the
public and should remain in pretrial detention.
Riley wasn’t immediately released from jail because he has an
outstanding arrest warrant in Maryland’s Prince George’s County. His
lawyer said the arrests can wreak havoc in people’s lives because
they’re often jailed for days at a time. She said Riley has three
children, so he wasn’t able to pick up his kids for a week.
“If they’re in school, they miss classes. If they have a job, they
miss going to work. If they have children, they miss child care
pickup,” Mullin said. “It’s just very upsetting, and it doesn’t
promote respect for the law.”
The U.S. Attorney's office in Washington is the nation's largest,
but it's getting outside help: Twenty members of the military’s
Judge Advocate General Corps were expected to help Pirro's office
prosecute cases.
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Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this
report.
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