Once again, Trump prosecutors indulge in exaggeration and fabrication, but a jury slaps them down. This case was touted as proof that immigrants were criminals. Via the Associated Press:
CHICAGO (AP) — A man accused of offering a $10,000 bounty over Snapchat for the life of a top Border Patrol leader was found not guilty on Thursday in the first criminal trial stemming from the Chicago-area immigration crackdown that started last year.
Jurors deliberated less than 4 hours before returning the favorable verdict for 37-year-old Juan Espinoza Martinez. He faced one count of murder-for-hire and up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Testimony lasted mere hours in the federal trial that was the latest test of the Trump administration’s credibility on federal surges that have played out from Minnesota to Maine.
Espinoza Martinez, who wore a suit and tie, listened intently with his arms crossed near his stomach. He hugged his attorneys and shook their hands after court adjourned.
Basically, Martinez was forwarding some threats he read on Facebook to a Snapchat group that included his brother and added, “10K if you can take him down.” In other words, shitposting.
His defense lawyers said there was no evidence he actually intended to carry out a threat.
Prosecutors tried to smear him as a “high-ranking member” of the Latin Kings, a powerful criminal.
The government later retreated from that claim, saying instead that Mr. Espinoza Martinez had an “affinity” for the gang. At that point, the judge hearing the case, Joan Humphrey Lefkow of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, barred any discussion of alleged gang ties at the trial.
The case hinged on the private Snapchat messages, which Mr. Espinoza Martinez sent to two people. The messages included comments like “2K on info when they catch him” and “10K if u take him down,” as well as the phrase “LK on him,” an apparent reference to the Latin Kings, with a few hand-sign emojis sandwiched in the middle.
"Repeating neighborhood gossip is not a federal crime,” his defense defense attorney told jurors, and “sharing Facebook posts is not a federal crime.”
