Texas Trial

• Anthony Odiong 被指控在 Waco 性侵三名心靈脆弱的女教友 • 根據 Guardian 獲悉，Roman Catholic 的 New Orleans archdiocese 正計劃將一名 priest 的姓名從他在市郊協助建立的 chapel 移除，因為該名 clergyman 目前因涉嫌性侵三名心靈脆弱的女教友，正於 Texas 面臨刑事審判。 • 據報導，Anthony Odiong 於 2020 年擔任鄰近教堂的 pastor 期間，曾籌集 60 萬美元建造並啟用了位於 Louisiana 州 Luling 的 Our Lady of Guadalupe Healing Chapel。這是在 Texas 當局對其提出刑事指控的數年前，他先前也曾在 Texas 服務。儘管針對他的刑事案件已進入審判程序，他的名字至今仍出現在 chapel 外的各種銘文及建築物本身。Continue reading...

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.