UPDATE 4/25/25 at 11:00am — Judge Hannah Dugan appeared in court on obstruction charges Friday morning around 10:30am, according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Marshall’s office.
Chief Judge Carl Ashley has released the following statement on Dugan’s arrest:
“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.”
MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee County circuit judge has been arrested by the FBI over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant “evade arrest,” according to FBI Director Kash Patel in a post on X.
Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on obstruction charges, according to Patel.
According to a complaint filed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Thursday, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, attempted to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican citizen, after a hearing in Judge Dugan’s courtroom at the Milwaukee County Courthouse related to separate matters of misdemeanor battery April 18th.
Upon clearing security, the agents took positions in the public hallway outside the courtroom. A courtroom deputy then notified a shift sergeant that ICE agents were in the building.
Witnesses say Judge Dugan became “visibly angry” upon hearing the federal agents were outside, commenting that the situation was “absurd”. After leaving the courtroom to confront the agents, the complaints states Judge Dugan ordered the agents to report to Chief Justice Carl Ashley’s office.
An agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency not recognized outside the courtroom reported Judge Dugan walked around the hallway looking for additional agents before returning to the courtroom. There, the courtroom deputy told investigators he heard Judge Dugan say “Wait, come with me” toward Flores-Ruiz and a woman believed to be his attorney. Judge Dugan is then alleged to have escorted the pair through the jury door before returning to the courtroom and conducting hearings on that morning’s docket.
DEA agents reporting seeing Flores-Ruiz and his attorney walking briskly towards an elevator before leaving the courthouse and heading outside towards the flagpole. Federal agents pursued Flores-Ruiz in a footchase outside the court house before arresting him near 10th and State Streets around 9:00am.
WTMJ’s Nazir Spencer reports a sign was taped up on Judge Dugan’s courtroom door Friday morning:
At a press conference Friday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the arrest was “more about hype than it was about keeping the community safer”.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley added at his own media availability that the arrest was “a performative showing”.
Judge Dugan is a nine-year veteran of the Milwaukee County judicial system.
