A jury in Washington has officially convicted three protesters of federal conspiracy charges after attempting to stop federal officers from transporting two illegal aliens in custody from Spokane to Tacoma in June 2025. The three individuals could spend up to six years behind bars and pay fines up to $250,000 for their “activism.”
Jac Archer, Justice Forral, and Bajun Mavalwalla II were convicted as a result of actions taken near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility located near downtown Spokane, Washington. Fellow leftists and others have started to call the group “the Spokane 3.” The trio were among hundreds of individuals who responded to a post published on Facebook by former City Council President Ben Stuckart in summer 2025 urging folks to join him in blocking the immigration transfer bus.
Stuckart also sponsored one of the two detained illegal immigrants who were in the U.S. seeking asylum, according to news reports concerning the incident. A total of nine protesters, including Stuckart himself, were taken into custody on conspiracy charges. Stuckart, along with five other people, opted to plead guilty to the charge in exchange for reduced sentences.
According to a report published by NPR, “After a jury handed down the verdict Thursday, Washington State Representative Natasha Hill, (D-Spokane) thanked people who supported the defendants through the nearly two-week trial — but called out Stuckart for not showing up.” Hill then said, “You started this and you couldn’t even show up to finish it,” she said. “So I call on you, and I call on others to do what you said you were going to do, and stand up for your community because the fight is not over with this conviction.”
Stuckart then created a Facebook post saying he was told that if he came to the trial it could violate his parole. “I feel awful about the guilty verdict. I feel awful for Jac, Bajun and Justice and their families. I support those that took plea deals, and I support those that went to trial,” Stuckart went on to say in the post.
Bajun Mavalwalla, Sr., the father of one of the protesters and a congressional candidate, said that U.S. attorneys wanted to make an example of his son and called the prosecution “political and vindictive.” Defense attorneys representing the “Spokane 3” revealed they have plans to appeal the conviction. Folks had a lot to say about the trial in the Breitbart News comment section.
One user pointed out that the methods employed by the three protesters are not valid forms of activism, writing, “Blocking, impeding, and physical assault aren’t protesting. What are doing here? Give them the J6 treatment.” Someone else pointed out, “Being attacked by a mob, even of three people or more, is generally considered a threat of serious enough nature to warrant the use of deadly force in defense for your self.”
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“I’ve been in that situation before. I was released within 2 hours of being questioned. I’m still in the processes of suing the people involved,” the individual continued. Others noted that had these individuals been conservative, they would have been considered “right-wing terrorists” just like those involved in the Capitol riot in 2021.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video