Two more protesters charged in Glass House immigration raid
Two more demonstrators have been criminally charged in connection with sometimes-violent protests during a July 10 immigration raid at Glass House Farms’ cannabis facility in Camarillo.
The U.S. Justice Department announced Oct. 29 that
Virginia Reyes, 32, and Isai Carrillo, 31, both of Oxnard, are charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, a felony that is punishable by up to five years in federal prison.
Carrillo was arrested Oct. 29, while Reyes is considered a fugitive.
During the raid, protesters built a roadblock using farm equipment at the primary entrance and exit to Glass House Farms, according to the Justice Department.
The demonstrators allegedly included members of VC Defensa, a volunteer group which purportedly follows, agitates, and impedes federal agents enforcing immigration laws.
Prosecutors said that at least 10 individuals, including Reyes and Carrillo, allegedly acted together to impede and assault Homeland Security agents and damage government property.
Reyes allegedly drove her vehicle to an ambush location to hinder government vehicles.
Carrillo and others allegedly threw rocks at the government vehicles, causing damage to them, and injuring a federal contract employee.
A third protester at the Glass House operation, CSU Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, 37, was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 3 on a felony count of throwing a tear gas cannister at the agents.
Caravello has pleaded not guilty.
His trial is scheduled to begin March 24.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agents who raided the Glass House site, plus another Glass House cannabis farm in Carpinteria, detained more than 360 people suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
During the operation at the Camarillo location, farmworker Jaime Alanas Garcia, 57, died after reportedly falling 30 feet from a greenhouse roof while attempting to flee.
Meanwhile, prosecutors announced Oct. 29 that nine other people have been criminally charged in connection with violence against California Highway Patrol officers in downtown Los Angeles during immigration enforcement actions on June 8.
