A federal grand jury has indicted a California State University Channel Islands professor accused of hurling a tear gas canister at federal agents during a summer raid on a marijuana farm in Camarillo.
Jonathan Caravello, 37, of Ventura, was charged with one count of assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Caravello ran toward a Border Patrol tear gas canister, picked it up and “threw it overhand back at Border Patrol agents” as law enforcement tried to leave the property.
In a sharply worded statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office described protesters at the scene as violent, accusing them of damaging government vehicles and forcing agents to deploy tear gas “to assist with crowd control, ensure officer safety, and to allow law enforcement to depart.”
Caravello, a philosophy and math lecturer, was arrested on July 10 during the raid at the Glass House Farms grow facility on Laguna Road. Supporters, including labor leaders and his employer at CSUCI, called for Caravello’s release after he was detained for several days.
The Camarillo immigration raid was one of the most high-profile clashes between civilians and federal agents this past summer. Agents with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Patrol were executing what they called a “high-risk” search warrant at the farm.
Federal officials later announced more than 200 arrests and alleged at least 10 children were found working at sites linked to the company, which officials say is under investigation for child labor violations. The death of one farmworker has been linked to the operation.
Caravello is currently free on $15,000 bond. He is due in District Court in Los Angeles “in the coming weeks.”