Justice Department Has Charged More Than Three Dozen ICE Protesters Under a Civil War-Era Conspiracy Law

NPR reported on Aug. 3, 2026 that since Trump took office the Justice Department has charged more than three dozen people in at least 10 cases under 18 U.S.C. 372, conspiracy to impede or injure an officer — a Civil War-era statute carrying up to six years in prison. NPR reviewed five years of court records and found every one of those cases involved people protesting immigration enforcement.

The statute has historically been used rarely; before 2025 most recent cases stemmed from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and were dismissed or pardoned after Trump returned to office. Aaron Terr of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told NPR the government "may be casting too wide a net."

Outcomes are mixed. Three defendants were convicted at trial in Spokane, Wash., in May; a case against six Broadview, Ill. protesters was dismissed over alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The Justice Department told NPR that people "should not mistake violence against law enforcement or impeding officers performing their duties with peaceful protest."