After a professor at California State University Channel Islands was arrested for allegedly throwing tear gas at law enforcement, a judge agreed to his release from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center Monday.
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According to a Sunday X post from Bill Essayli, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Professor Jonathan Caravello was charged with a violation of 18 USC 111. NBC4 obtained the criminal complaint against him that included video surveillance footage. It accuses the professor of throwing a tear gas canister at border patrol agents and that he left and changed his clothes before he was arrested on July 10.
This year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have resulted in criticism and protests, particularly in the Los Angeles area, as the administration of President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on illegal immigration. Per NBC4, Caravello was part of a large protest against an immigration raid at a farm.
In a Saturday X post, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the raid an “operation at the marijuana facility in California,” that resulted in the arrest of 319 illegal aliens and the rescue of 14 children from “potential forced labor, exploitation, and trafficking.”
“California State University Channel Islands is aware of reports that Professor Jonathan Anthony Caravello of CSU Channel Islands, a legal U.S. citizen, was taken into federal custody during a protest at Glass House Farms in Camarillo,” said a statement from Caravello’s employer. It also said that “it is our understanding that Professor Caravello was peacefully participating in a protest—an act protected under the First Amendment and a right guaranteed to all Americans.”
NBC4 also reported that Professor Alejandra Marchevsky said that Caravello grabbed the canister as he was helping a person in a wheelchair. Per the outlet, Caravello has been working at CSU Channel Islands for more than five years, and that that members of the California Faculty Association organized a vigil Sunday night in support of Caravello.
“We strongly condemn the abduction of California Faculty Association professor, member and activist Jonathan A. Caravello, Ph.D. and other community members terrorized and arrested by federal immigration authorities while exercising their constitutional rights to protest peacefully,” said the CFA in a statement.
However, Essayli refuted the characterization of the arrest as an “abduction.” He said in his Sunday X post that Caravello “was not ‘kidnapped’ by federal agents,” but that he “was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement. He is charged with a violation of 18 USC 111 and will have a court appearance tomorrow.”
In a Monday statement, the CFA said that a judge had ordered the release of Caravello from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center.
“The California Faculty Association (CFA) is celebrating the release of Jonathan A. Caravello, Ph.D., a CFA member and respected educator and activist at California State University Channel Islands, after they were abducted by federal authorities on Thursday, July 10 in Camarillo while exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully,” it said.
According to NBC4, Caravello, who is reportedly a U.S. citizen, has another court date is set for Aug. 1.