A federal magistrate judge ordered a St. Paul woman released from custody pending trial on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer, charges tied to the showdown between law enforcement and protesters on Lake Street last week.
Isabel Lopez, 27, pleaded not guilty Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota to her four charges in connection with her alleged role in the June 3 protest outside Taqueria y Birrieria Las Cuatro Milpas restaurant. The protest began over speculation that an immigration raid was underway as federal agents converged on Lake Street. Court filings have since revealed that the investigation pertained to an ongoing probe into drug trafficking and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors allege Lopez assaulted officers on Lake Street, including throwing a softball at the back of a Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputy and kicking an FBI agent. A grand jury charged Lopez with a third count of assault after investigators said she punched an agent in the head upon her arrest.
Since her detainment, Lopez’s supporters have expressed outrage over her arrest and maintained that she acted in self-defense because of law enforcement’s actions that day, including being “yank[ed] down” off a trash can by officers before being “slam[med]” to the ground.” Before her arraignment, a crowd gathered outside the federal courthouse with some holding signs saying “Free Isa.”
Magistrate Judge John Docherty ordered Lopez released from Sherburne County jail — which typically holds inmates facing federal charges — on a personal recognizance bond, to which prosecutors had no objection. Docherty ordered Lopez to have no contact with witnesses in her case. Lopez nodded her head in agreement.
The scene on Lake Street erupted as federal investigators carried out a search warrant of Las Cuatros Milpas restaurant, one of eight searches across the Twin Cities metro area that day. The armed agents caught the attention of community members who quickly took to social media saying that an immigration raid was taking place. Several hundred people gathered at the scene chanting “shame,” and scuffles ensued between passersby and federal agents, who called in Minneapolis and Hennepin County law enforcement to help with crowd control.
Warrants pertaining to the June 3 searches remain sealed as the case is ongoing. The criminal complaint shed some light into the larger investigation, stating that the operations were part of a bigger probe into drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering launched by the discovery of over 900 pounds of methamphetamine inside a Burnsville storage unit during a related search.
The complaint states agents found evidence at each location they searched, which spanned from residences and businesses in Inver Grove Heights, Burnsville, Bloomington, Northfield and Lakeville. A warrant at a Northfield residence turned up two gold-plated firearms fashioned similarly to weapons used by narco-traffickers.
