Free Speech For People Issues New Letter Urging California Attorney General and District Attorneys to Launch Criminal Investigations into Federal Agents for Unlawful Assaults, Detentions, and Political Retaliation Against California Residents

SACRAMENTO, CA, January 12, 2026 — Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan legal advocacy organization, today submitted a request urging Attorney General Robert Bonta, and the District Attorneys of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino and Orange Counties to open criminal investigations into the unlawful actions of federal agents operating in California.

The submission details a consistent pattern of criminal activity by federal agents across California since June of 2025, including unlawful detentions, violent assaults, kidnappings, and racially motivated targeting of communities of color, as part of the Trump Administration’s immigration operations. 

Free Speech For People’s letter alleges that these acts were part of a coordinated criminal conspiracy directed by President Donald Trump and senior administration officials, intended not to enforce federal law but to punish and terrorize immigrants and political opponents.

“Federal agents are staging raids in California to punish President Trump’s perceived political enemies,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director for Free Speech For People. “California officials have a duty to protect their residents from these politically motivated, unlawful uses of force.”

While the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts were purportedly aimed at the “worst of the worst,” publicly available evidence and Trump’s own remarks show that these actions are designed to intimidate political opponents and terrorize communities of color rather than any coherent law enforcement objective. 

Federal agents engaged in a series of violent and unlawful actions, including:

• Detaining individuals without cause and in violation of court orders;
• Using excessive force against residents and citizens in the course of immigration arrests;
• Losing an individual after placing him in custody—his whereabouts are still unknown;
• Using flash-bang grenades against peaceful protestors;
• Pointing firearms at bystanders without case;
• Causing the death of a resident in the course of a chaotic raid. 

The letter outlines numerous violations of California criminal law, including assault, battery, false arrest, manslaughter, rioting, public nuisance, and kidnapping, as well as potential hate crimes and civil rights violations. It further contends that Supremacy Clause immunity does not protect federal agents who act outside lawful authority or engage in conduct they know to be unlawful.

“When federal agents and officials unreasonably and unnecessarily violate state criminal law, they are not immune from state prosecution,” said Ben Clements, Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor at Free Speech For People, and a former federal prosecutor. “That includes officials who gave the orders, including the President himself.” 

Free Speech For People emphasizes that while federal prosecutors have been compromised by the administration’s own misconduct, state and local authorities retain independent jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes committed within their borders.

“The federal government has made it clear it is unwilling to conduct meaningful oversight of its agents,” said Ben Horton, Counsel at Free Speech For People. “It is up to California officials to hold federal agents and officials accountable.” 

Read the full letter here.