OMAHA — Federal officials announced criminal charges this week against five people — four of them protesters — for encounters with immigration agents during the June 10 worksite enforcement raid at Omaha’s Glenn Valley Foods.

The raid, the largest immigration enforcement action in Nebraska since President Donald Trump took office a second time, targeted undocumented workers suspected of using fraudulent or stolen IDs to gain employment at the Glenn Valley plant near 68th and J Streets. Nearly 80 workers were detained.

According to a statement Monday night by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska, the four protesters ranged in age from 18 to 36. 

The fifth person charged was a Honduran worker, Marvin Aleman Zepeda, who was described early on by Todd Lyons, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as “a violent criminal who attacked law enforcement while they were serving the public.”

‘Dark crawl space’

 

Here’s what happened in the encounter with Aleman Zepeda, according to recently unsealed federal court documents and a statement by a special agent with the Department Homeland Security, Justin Temperly:

The day of the raid, Temperly and other agents encountered Aleman Zepeda as they searched the facility for people trying to hide. A deputy U.S. marshal found the worker in a confined area above office spaces described as a “dark crawl space, near rafters of the building, that was not designed for human occupancy.”

Several agents directed Aleman Zepeda to surrender. He “refused commands” and “displayed a box cutter and other tools in his hands,” an affidavit for the criminal complaint said.

An agent deployed a Taser or stun gun, a law enforcement tool designed to temporarily incapacitate using electrical shocks. Aleman Zepeda reportedly pulled the Taser probes out of his leg. He reportedly threw the tools in the direction of the agents and “retreated further into the crawl space, where his hands were no longer visible.” 

The agent deployed a second Taser. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit then assisted. 

A dog could be heard barking, the report said. “Law enforcement informed Aleman Zepeda he would be bitten” if the K-9 had to be used, and Aleman Zepeda surrendered. 

Aleman Zepeda, as a result of the incident that officials said took more than 45 minutes, is charged with use of a deadly or dangerous weapon to assault, resist, or impede a federal officer. The maximum penalty is no more than 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and supervised release of 3 years or less.

‘Middle fingers extended’

 

Charges agains the four protesters range from use of a weapon to assault, resist or impede a federal officer to willfully damaging federal property worth more than $1,000. They face prison time, fines and supervised release.

Of those, the most severe charges are against a 20-year-old. If convicted on one of the counts, Osmar Lorenzo-Genchi faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. For a second count, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An affidavit supporting the charges, also based on Temperly’s statement, said Lorenzo-Genchi had been in the production area when he noticed agents and “became immediately agitated and began raising both of his arms with middle fingers extended while shouting profanities and racial slurs at the law enforcement officers.”

Agents put him in hand restraints. Lorenzo-Genchi was identified as a U.S. citizen during the process, and was escorted off the property and released.

As a law enforcement vehicle driven by a deputy U.S. marshal and occupied by two other agents later was leaving the area, “several members of the public” tried to impede movement by standing in front of the vehicle. Lorenzo-Genchi was identified as one of them.

An agent who got out of the vehicle pushed Lorenzo-Genchi toward the edge of the road. Lorenzo-Genchi reportedly returned and struck the driver’s side mirror with his fists and pulled and bent a rear windshield wiper. As an agent grabbed and pushed Lorenzo-Genchi, he spit on the agent, authorities allege in the document. Later, he reportedly threw rocks and other debris at law enforcement vehicles and shattered a rear passenger window of an occupied law enforcement vehicle.

On Tuesday, the first of the protesters appeared in federal court for a detention hearing.

Dave Domina, his defense attorney, said the man, a U.S. citizen who did not work at the plant and was there in opposition to Trump immigration policies, has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges. He said the judge did not make a decision Tuesday on whether to hold his client pending a trial, and the judge is awaiting information from the court’s pretrial services.

More protests, peaceful 

 

A Saturday ICE update said the bulk of the nearly 80 workers detained in the raid were at the Lincoln County Jail in North Platte awaiting further proceedings. 

Omaha FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said the FBI is supporting ICE and Department of Justice partners in immigration enforcement operations across the country. He said “assaulting a law enforcement officer engaged in their lawful duties or damaging government property is not protected under the First Amendment — it is a criminal offense which we will investigate and apprehend those responsible.”

Several Omaha protests away from the Glenn Valley site followed the raid, including one on the late afternoon of June 10 that drew a police-estimated 400 people near 33rd and L Streets. A Saturday rally near the College World Series event in downtown Omaha drew several hundred demonstrators and no reported incidents. 

Omaha Mayor John Ewing, a former high-ranking Omaha police officer, said this weekend that he was thankful for how peacefully most protesters in Omaha so far have handled the ICE raid. He said acts of violence or vandalism will not be tolerated and “frankly hurt any message protesters want to give.”

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: [email protected]. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.