In a stunning turn of events, a sitting Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, Hannah Dugan, has been taken into custody by federal agents under serious allegations. The FBI arrested Judge Dugan following claims that she actively interfered with an immigration-related arrest inside her courtroom. Authorities allege she assisted an undocumented individual in evading federal law enforcement during an operation conducted by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) task force. The case has sparked strong reactions and raised significant legal and ethical questions surrounding the role of judicial officers in immigration enforcement matters.
The unsealed federal complaint details two criminal charges against Judge Dugan: obstructing and impeding official proceedings, and concealing a person to prevent their detection and arrest. These charges stem from an incident involving Eduardo Flores Ruiz, a non-citizen who was scheduled for a court appearance before Dugan. Federal investigators believe that Dugan deliberately misled agents and enabled Flores Ruiz to escape their custody while in the courthouse. Social media posts from FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest and described the judge’s alleged actions as a deliberate obstruction of justice.
According to the official complaint, the incident unfolded when Dugan learned of the presence of ICE agents in her courtroom intending to detain Flores Ruiz. Eyewitness accounts suggest the judge became visibly agitated upon learning about the agents’ intentions. She reportedly left the courtroom in frustration and confronted the ICE officers in the hallway, questioning their authority and demanding a judicial warrant, which they did not have. The agents instead held an administrative warrant, commonly used in civil immigration proceedings.
Witnesses further reported that Judge Dugan returned to her courtroom and, despite being informed about the warrant, guided Flores Ruiz and his attorney through a restricted area of the courthouse not accessible to the public. She then reportedly instructed them to exit via a backdoor, allowing them to avoid detection temporarily. Surveillance and testimony indicate that Flores Ruiz attempted to flee but was later apprehended outside the building by federal agents. The complaint portrays this sequence of events as a deliberate effort by Dugan to shield an undocumented immigrant from arrest.
Judge Dugan was formally arrested at the courthouse on Friday morning. She made her initial appearance later that day in federal court, where she was released on her own recognizance. Her defense attorney, Craig Mastantuono, dismissed the charges as unjustified and insisted that her actions were not a threat to public safety. Meanwhile, court records indicate that Flores Ruiz was facing three misdemeanor charges tied to a domestic violence incident from March. He had previously been ordered removed from the U.S. in 2013, according to immigration officials, but remained