November 2, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Defense will seek removal to federal court and dismissal under the Supremacy Clause
HOUSTON, November 2, 2026. ICE Officer Mario Morales turned himself in today, appeared before a Harris County district judge, and posted bond on the aggravated assault charge a grand jury returned October 30. His lawyers appearing today, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wynne, former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lindenmuth, plan to move the case to federal court and ask a federal judge to dismiss it under the Supremacy Clause.
Michael Wynne states:
“Officer Morales came to court today on his own and posted bond. He’s presumed innocent, and we intend to hold everyone to that.
“Mr. Parra Hernandez suffered serious injuries, and we hope he recovers fully. We’ll answer the State’s version of October 10 in court, under oath, where facts belong.
“This case raises a bigger question, one every American should care about: can a locally elected district attorney prosecute a federal officer for doing his federal job? The Supremacy Clause answers that, and federal courts have applied its answer for more than 130 years.
“In 1889, the Justice Department assigned Deputy U.S. Marshal David Neagle to guard Justice Stephen Field. David Terry, a former chief justice of California, had threatened Field after Field ruled against Terry’s wife and jailed them both for contempt. That August, Terry spotted Field at a railway dining room in Lathrop, California, walked up behind him, and struck him twice. Neagle later testified he believed Terry was reaching for a bowie knife, as Terry once had in Field’s courtroom, and he shot him. San Joaquin County charged Neagle with murder. A federal court freed him, and the Supreme Court affirmed in 1890.
“In 1962, federal courts ordered the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, its first Black student. Chief U.S. Marshal James McShane led the marshals who enforced that order. The night Meredith arrived, a segregationist mob pelted the marshals with bricks and bottles. McShane ordered tear gas. Before the night ended, rioters had opened fire. A Lafayette County grand jury indicted McShane anyway. He surrendered, just as Officer Morales did today, and in 1964 a federal judge in Mississippi ended the state’s case.
“Three badges, three centuries, one rule. Federal law doesn’t stop at the county line, and it doesn’t change with whoever holds the DA’s office or the White House. A badge doesn’t put anyone above the law. Neither does a press conference.
“Officer Morales served as an Army paratrooper and has twice sworn to support and defend the Constitution. Now we’ll ask a federal judge to make sure that Constitution protects him.
“The District Attorney chose to argue his case from a podium. We’ll argue ours in court.”
Media Contact: Joshua Delano