Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan arrested by federal authorities at Courthouse

Milwaukee County Circuit

Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested April 25 by federal authorities who are investigating whether she tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week, officials confirmed.

Dugan, 65, is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries at 10:30 a.m. April 25 on the second floor of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Milwaukee, according to two federal sources.

Brady McCarron, spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C., confirmed Dugan was arrested at about 8 a.m. at the Milwaukee County Courthouse and is in federal custody.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X about the arrest. He later deleted the post.

"Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week," Patel wrote. "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest."

Multiple Milwaukee County judges confirmed that the arrest took place at the courthouse. Chief Judge Carl Ashley confirmed the incident in an email to courthouse officials.

Related video: FBI arrests Milwaukee judge for allegedly helping an immigrant avoid ICE custody (Scripps News)
Reached in her courtroom on April 24, Dugan declined to discuss the investigation. The veteran judge handles misdemeanor cases exclusively.

Officials have not yet identified the defendant whom she is accused of assisting, but it appears to be Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican immigrant facing three misdemeanor battery counts. He was in Dugan's courtroom on April 18 for a pre-trial conference.

Flores-Ruiz, 30, is listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, according to the federal online detainee locator system.

Sources have told the Journal Sentinel that ICE officials arrived in Dugan's courtroom on the morning of April 18. When they went to the chief judge's office, Dugan directed the defendant and his attorney to a side door in the courtroom, directed them down a private hallway and into the public area on the 6th floor.
Last week's arrest marked at least the third time in recent months that federal immigration agents have come to the courthouse with arrest warrants. In March and early April, two people were arrested by ICE officials in the hallways of the courthouse.

Dugan was elected to Branch 31 of the Circuit Court in 2016 by knocking off an appointee of Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Her judicial term expires in 2028.

This is a breaking story and was updated with new information. More updates are coming.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan arrested by federal authorities at Courthouse