Texas Trial

• Anthony Odiong 被指控在 Waco 性侵三名精神脆弱的女性教友 • 据 Guardian 获悉，New Orleans 的 Roman Catholic archdiocese 正在计划从该市郊外的一座礼拜堂中移除一名神父的名字。该神父曾协助建造这座礼拜堂，而他因被控在 Texas 性侵三名精神脆弱的女性教友而面临刑事指控，审判迫在眉睫 • 据报道，Anthony Odiong 在 2020 年于 Louisiana, Luling 建造并开放 Our Lady of Guadalupe Healing Chapel 前筹集了 600,000 美元，当时他正担任相邻教堂的牧师。这发生在他被 Texas 当局（他此前也曾在该地传教）刑事起诉的数年前

Prosecutors say Anthony Odiong exploited his parishioners’ emotional dependency to engage in sexual conduct with themA Roman Catholic priest with ties to Texas and south-east Louisiana and criminally charged with abusing his position as a clergyman to pursue sex with three spiritually vulnerable female congregants faces being taken to trial on all of those cases at once.The Texas district attorney’s office prosecuting Anthony Odiong filed a motion seeking to consolidate the three cases in late March, ahead of a trial date that the Guardian understands has tentatively been set for 4 May. Prepared by McLennan county first assistant district attorney Ryan Calvert, the motion notes that Texas state law allows “a defendant [to] be prosecuted in a single criminal action” if the crimes alleged “are connected or … are the repeated commission of the same or similar offenses”. Continue reading...

• A federal jury in Texas convicted eight anti-ICE protesters on terrorism charges Friday, marking the first successful terrorism prosecution against activists by the Justice Department. • Federal prosecutors accused the protesters of being members of antifa in connection with a reported shooting during a demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE jail in Alvarado last year. • The conviction has raised concerns about the Trump administration's intensifying crackdown on activists and First Amendment rights, with the DFW Support Committee calling it "a sham trial, built on political persecution and ideological attacks."

• A federal jury in Texas convicted eight anti-ICE protesters on terrorism charges Friday in a closely watched trial that has raised concerns about the Trump administration's expanding crackdown on activist speech. • The convictions represent an intensified prosecutorial approach against immigration enforcement protesters, raising questions about First Amendment protections for demonstration activity. • The case has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates warning of an erosion of protest rights under the current administration's enforcement posture.