Overview
- Nicholas Rice, charged Wednesday after a Colorado Bureau of Investigation review, faces misdemeanor third-degree assault and criminal mischief.
- Protest videos from Oct. 28, 2025, show a masked agent seizing 57-year-old Franci Stagi’s phone and forcing her to the ground outside the Durango ICE office.
- Court filings accuse Rice of causing bodily injury to Stagi but do not describe a chokehold, which she says the agent used.
- DHS called the case a political stunt and argued states cannot pursue federal officers, a stance that could be tested as similar prosecutions advance in Minnesota and near Chicago.
- Rice received a summons for a May 27 appearance in La Plata County Court, and CBP said it launched an internal review after the Durango incident.