Shackled to his hospital bed: Feds drop charges against protester allegedly beaten unconscious by Border Patrol [View all]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/06/18/feds-drop-charges-against-protester-allegedly-beaten-unconscious-by-border-patrol

Feds drop charges against protester allegedly beaten unconscious by Border Patrol

Matt Sepic
Minneapolis
June 18, 2026 6:28 PM

Federal prosecutors on Thursday dropped charges against an immigration protester who Border Patrol agents allegedly beat unconscious during the Trump Administration’s wintertime enforcement operation.

On Jan. 22, masked agents surrounded Paul E. Johnson's vehicle and pulled him out after he stopped to observe them. Johnson, 47, told MPR News that he had to sneak a phone call to his wife because the agent guarding him at HCMC would not allow him to use the phone while he was shackled to a hospital bed for five days.

Johnson, a remodeling contractor, also suffered a torn rotator cuff that put him out of work for months.

In a sworn affidavit, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Richard Berger accused Johnson of threatening the Border Patrol with a baseball bat and dousing a government vehicle with pepper spray. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi posted Johnson’s name and photo to social media along with 15 other protesters, whom she called “rioters.”

Of the three dozen cases against people accused of assaulting federal agents, Johnson’s is the 20th that prosecutors have moved to dismiss. The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has quietly entered into non-prosecution agreements with 11 others.

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(Sue for false arrest. Name Berger for false testimony.)