SPOKANE — A federal jury in Spokane convicted Bajun Mavalwalla and two other protesters of felony conspiracy charges stemming from a June 2025 demonstration against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts approximately 24 hours after closing arguments concluded.

Mavalwalla, a former U.S. Army sergeant and Afghanistan war veteran, was among those found guilty of conspiring to impede ICE operations during the protest, which sought to block the deportation of a Venezuelan immigrant. The three defendants face potential sentences of up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. They have since filed a Rule 29 motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell to set aside the verdicts.

During the trial, the jury watched hours of law enforcement body camera footage but did not hear that a federal judge had previously ruled the Venezuelan immigrant’s arrest unconstitutional. Judge Pennell prohibited the defendants from using the First Amendment as a legal defense, though they were permitted to explain their motivations for protesting.

"I’m not done. I’m going to keep fighting," Mavalwalla said following the verdict. His father, retired U.S. Army intelligence officer Bajun Ray Mavalwalla, who earned three Bronze Stars in Iraq and Afghanistan, criticized the outcome, saying, "The verdict sets a precedent for those wishing to disenfranchise people from their rights to speech, expression and assembly."

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown condemned the prosecution as "politically motivated" and "meant to make an example out of people who disagreed with federal immigration policy." She added, "The right to peacefully protest and criticize the government is a cornerstone of our democracy," and urged, "We cannot allow these verdicts to silence us."

Former acting U.S. Attorney for eastern Washington Richard Barker, who resigned rather than sign the indictment, questioned the charges. "None of the agents were hurt and none of the protesters were hurt either," Barker said. He described the law used in the case—18 U.S.C. section 372—as "a civil war-era law dusted off to punish members of our community who stood up for two young men who were unlawfully detained by ICE."

Testimony revealed that ICE agent Jeremy Burlingame, who appeared for the prosecution, had authored social media posts containing derogatory remarks about Black politicians and transgender people, and had shared a post depicting ICE arresting a pregnant woman at gunpoint that referred to her using a derogatory term. Federal prosecutors recalled Burlingame to the stand after reviewing the posts, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux called them "horrendous" in court.