Trump DOJ Assault Charges Dismissed at High Rate, Defendants Suffer Job Losses

The Trump administration’s Department of Justice charged at least 851 people with assaulting or impeding federal officers between January 2025 and March 2025. A Reuters review found that 31% of the completed cases were dismissed, far above the 8% typical dismissal rate for federal criminal cases. The disparity was especially pronounced for immigration‑related protests, where roughly 45% of the 86 cases were dropped.

One defendant, 32‑year‑old photographer Christian Garcia, said he threw an empty water bottle toward officers guarding a federal building near Los Angeles, was arrested, jailed for three days and charged with a crime that could have carried up to a year in prison. After the case was dismissed, he lost two jobs and faced legal fees and online threats. DOJ officials emphasized a policy of “prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law” but noted that “if there are mitigating factors … charges may be downgraded or dropped.” The high dismissal rate has left many charged individuals financially and socially harmed despite the prosecutions being abandoned.