Spokane man fighting deportation arraigned on assault charge on agent

A Spokane man arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on April 29 appeared in court Thursday after a grand jury found probable cause to charge him with assault on a federal officer stemming from his arrest on North Glass Street.

Martin R. Diaz, 35, who came to the U.S. with his family as a toddler and has been working to obtain his legal status, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Goeke, who joined the hearing via video link from Yakima.

Goeke informed Diaz that a grand jury on Wednesday returned an indictment for assault on a federal officer, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and or a $250,000 fine.

Most of the courtroom was filled with Diaz’s family, including his wife Kendall Diaz, her mother, and Diaz’s siblings, his mother and their friends.

Dressed in a yellow “Spokane County Jail Inmate” jumpsuit, Martin Diaz, also known as Martin R Diaz-Amezcua, turned and made eye contact with his wife prior to the hearing. He nodded his head yes.

Diaz was represented by Carter Powers Beggs, of the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington. Powers Beggs did not argue for release conditions but informed Judge Goeke that a motion would be coming soon.

The charges stem from the arrest on April 29, which was captured on the Diaz’s Ring Home Security Camera system from two angles.

According to court records, FBI agent James Cain wrote that U.S. Border Patrol agent Walter Sketch said that he activated emergency lights as his unmarked vehicle approached Diaz’s home.

“Agent Sketch exited his vehicle, while wearing his agency issued tactical vest, with agency placards visible, and identified himself as a Border Patrol Agent, and ordered Diaz to stop,” court records state.

On the video, however, the audio clearly picks up a dog barking in the background but doesn’t appear to capture anything spoken by Sketch until he catches up to Martin Diaz as he’s trying to open his backyard fence’s gate.

At that point, according to the report, “Diaz swung backwards with one of his elbows, striking Agent Sketch in the eye. In a subsequent interview, Agent Sketch stated that the blow from Martin Diaz’s elbow dazed him, that he saw stars and his vision was blurred

During the scrum, several voices can be heard, and it appears someone clearly says “arrest,” but nowhere in two camera angles does it show Martin Diaz either swinging his arm or striking any of the agents in their faces. Instead, he is tackled to ground by agents.

The elements of the crime did not come up at the Thursday hearing and Goeke informed Diaz that the government will at some point have to provide the evidence it has to justify the crime.

But Diaz’s younger sister, Marlen Diaz, 19, said the video appears to show his brother as the victim not the aggressor.

“He’s the one who was assaulted,” Diaz said of her older brother.

Diaz is the second oldest of five children. His mother, Elsa Diaz-Amezcua, 59, wiped tears away after the hearing as she spoke about the boy she brought to the U.S. when he was 2.

“It’s our worst nightmare. It has been a nightmare ever since that first thing,” Diaz-Amezcua said through an interpreter. “Every night, I pray for him. And I pray he will get out and not be treated like this.”

That first thing came in 2008 when Martin Diaz was convicted of third-degree assault in a case where he earlier had been charged with third-degree rape of a girl who said she did not give her consent.

In addition to the first conviction, Martin Diaz was convicted in 2017 of felony domestic violence following a confrontation with his ex-wife’s father.

In the meantime, he and is wife, Kendall Diaz, have been working to obtain his legal immigration status through his 2018 marriage to a U.S. citizen. But that all stopped with the April 29 arrest.

“We feel he is not being treated right,” brother Edgar Diaz said of Martin. “He’s done so much good and not only for our family. He’s a really good person.”

In an earlier interview, Kendall Diaz said she and her husband started a business, Upper Left Renovations, which focused on converting homes to make them accessible to elderly residents.

“He’s the best brother anyone can have, and a role model,” Edgar Diaz said. “He needs to stay here. His entire family is here.”