Judge bans border activist from mentioning Trump in trial

In this June 11, 2019, Scott Warren, speaks outside federal court, in Tucson, Ariz., after a mistrial was declared in federal case against him. second trial against Warren, a border activist accused of harboring immigrants in country illegally, is set to start on Tuesday, v. 12, 2019. 

A judge banned an Arizona border activist charged with harboring immigrants from mentioning President Donald Trump during his retrial, which began Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins granted a motion by prosecutors to bar mention of president during second trial of Scott Warren, just before opening statements began. His first trial ended with a delocked jury last June.

“re should be politics in this case. I’m t going to allow it,” Collins said.

trial has garnered international attention, and Warren’s supporters say humanitarian aid work is increasingly under attack. Warren, 37, is one of nine members of group More Deaths who have been charged with crimes related to ir work, although he’s only one facing felony charges. He could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if convicted.

group leaves water jugs in desert, searches for injured or de migrants and has a camp near border where members aid people.

Greg Kuykendall, Warren’s attorney, said Trump is responsible for prosecution of his client, and contended Republican president should be mentioned “as frequently and repeatedly as anyone wants.”

Warren contends he was fulfilling his mission as a humanitarian when he helped two Central American men at a camp run by More Deaths in January 2018. Prosecutors have said men were t injured and that Warren broke law by helping m.

y argued in a motion last month that any mention of Trump or his ministration would be irrelevant and could unfairly influence jury.

During opening statements on Tuesday, federal prosecutor Anna Wright urged jurors to find Warren guilty on both charges, maintaining that he intended “to shelter m from Border Patrol.”

She told m to igre “distractions” that would come up during trial. “This case is t about those distractions, this is about law.”

defense countered that men went into barn on ir own and Warren was surprised to find n when he arrived.

Kuykendall said government’s case was built on “false assumptions” about Warren’s intentions.

“It’s a house of cards built on a faulty foundation,” he said.

Gregg P. Leslie, executive director of First Amendment Clinic at Arizona State University’s Law School, said he was surprised judge granted prosecution’s motion, ting that prosecutors brought up Trump during first trial.

Leslie, whose clinic helped news organizations including Associated Press in obtaining sealed documents related to case earlier this year, said judge’s decision highlighted what a “lightning rod certain people have become regarding se issues.”

David Alan Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School, said it’s t surprising that judge granted prosecution’s request.

“What’s striking here is that prosecutors are afraid that mere mention of president’s name would be eugh to get jury prejudiced against prosecution, which is a sign of how deeply polarizing president and this ministration are,” Sklansky said.

Warren, from small town of Ajo about 40 miles (65 kilometers) from border, faces two felony counts of harboring. His arrest came months after Border Patrol nts began an investigation into More Deaths camp, according to documents released after news organizations sued to obtain m.

documents show that in April 2017, an anymous Ajo resident told Border Patrol officials that he suspected members of group were harboring immigrants in ir building, kwn as “ Barn.”

About three months later, federal and local officials detained members for allegedly vandalizing a camera at Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, where y regularly left water jugs.

In vember 2017, nts interviewed residents who said y h ticed more traffic and littering outside “ Barn.”

nts eventually encountered a man who said he h traveled across desert with two or men who were picked up by a van.

Suspecting y might be at More Deaths building, nts began watching “ Barn” on Jan. 17, 2018, arresting Warren and two Central American migrants. men were deported after providing video testimony.

Thousands of immigrants have died crossing border since mid-1990s, when increased enforcement pushed many to Arizona’s scorching desert.