FBI Arrests Wisconsin Judge For Allegedly Obstructing Immigration Officials

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – A Wisconsin judge was arrested Friday morning on federal charges that allege she attempted to prevent immigration officials from executing an arrest. 

FBI agents arrested Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday morning, for charges of obstructing immigration authorities and concealing an individual to prevent their arrest. That individual, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, is a Mexican national and is in the country illegally, according to immigration authorities. 

A criminal complaint that was filed on Thursday, claimed agents with several federal agencies attempted to arrest Ruiz when he was scheduled to appear in court for unrelated domestic assault charges on Apr. 18. When agents arrived at the Milwaukee courthouse, they said they informed security and the courtroom deputy of their intent to arrest Ruiz after his hearing. Judge Dugan presided over Ruiz’s hearing. 

Agents who spoke with the courtroom deputy agreed to conduct the arrest in the hallway after the hearing. According to the complaint, the deputy observed Ruiz enter the courtroom with his lawyer, who approached Judge Dugan’s bench. The lawyer allegedly told Judge Dugan’s clerk that “there appeared to be ICE agents in the hallway.” 

The clerk spoke directly to Judge Dugan who, according to the deputy, became visibly angry, commented that the situation was “absurd,” left the bench, and entered chambers.“ 

Agents claimed that Judge Dugan and another judge approached them outside in the hallway and appeared “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor.” Judge Dugan asked for a copy of the agents’ warrants and ordered them to speak with the Chief Judge. 

The agents admitted to only possessing an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. The scope of authority of an administrative warrant is lesser than a judicial one, and does not allow for law enforcement to search private property.

Agents provided the Chief Judge’s clerk with a copy of the warrant and said they would be conducting the arrest in the public areas of the courthouse. 

The courtroom deputy allegedly informed agents that Ruiz’s case had been “pushed” through, and he then “saw Judge Dugan get up and heard Judge Dugan say something like “Wait, come with me.” Ruiz and his attorney were then led out by Judge Dugan through a ‘jury door,‘ a back exit typically reserved for jurors, in-custody defendants and courtroom staff, the complaint alleged.

An attorney who was working for the Assistant District Attorney, claimed to also observe Judge Dugan direct Ruiz and his lawyer through the exit, before returning to complete other case of the docket. When the attorney asked what had happened to Ruiz’s case, Judge Dugan allegedly said it had been “adjourned.” 

According to the complaint, Ruiz’s alleged victims in the domestic cases were present in the courtroom for the hearing. 

Agents spotted Ruiz leaving the courthouse and engaged in a short foot chase before he was taken into custody. 

Judge Dugan’s arrest comes roughly a week after the initial incident. The arrest has sparked protests in Wisconsin and Minnesota, including outside the Milwaukee federal courthouse where Dugan was arraigned today. 

In a now-deleted post to X, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Judge Dugan’s arrest. The post read, in part, “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”