WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested a county judge in Milwaukee on Friday, alleging that she obstructed the detention of an undocumented immigrant who was wanted by federal authorities, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
The arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, in line with its rhetoric about going after local and state authorities on immigration-related matters.
Hannah Dugan during a forum at the Milwaukee Bar Association in Milwaukee in 2016.Mike De Sisti / USA Today Network file
Dugan was arrested by the FBI and is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, the senior law enforcement official said. The official told NBC News that Dugan was arrested at about 8:30 a.m. local time in the parking lot of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, before she entered the building. She was then transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals.
The news broke in a since-deleted post on X from FBI Director Kash Patel, in which he wrote that the bureau believed that Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents” when the “subject to be arrested” had appeared in Dugan’s court on a separate case.
Patel said that agents “chased down the perp on foot,” but said that Hagan’s “obstruction created increased danger to the public.
The deputy court clerk for Judge Dugan told NBC News that they could not comment on the arrest. In a statement, the chief judge of the court, Carl Ashley, said that the “judicial code of conduct restricts judges from commenting on pending or impending matters in any court. Judge Dugan’s court calendar will be covered by another judge as needed.”
Michael Kosnar
Gary Grumbach and Tom Winter contributed.
