Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Staff in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office have confirmed that investigators executed a search warrant at Agriprocessors this morning, but they provided few other details.
The investigation, led by the Iowa Division of Labor and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, has continued in the wake of 57 cases of potential child labor law violations being passed to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.
“Agents from the [DCI] came today to the Agriprocessors’ plant in Postville with a search warrant, took some photographs and obtained samples of certain knives and cutting tools used by workers in the production process,” said Chaim Abrahams, a spokesman for Agriprocessors. “As it has done in the past, the company cooperated completely. No one was arrested, and there was no interference with production.”
Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant, was the location of one of the largest single-site immigration raids in American history on May 12. To date no members of upper management have faced charges in connection with the federal immigration raid. Two middle-management supervisors were charged with encouraging illegal immigration and have pleaded guilty in federal court. A third supervisor remains on the run.
Eyewitnesses in Postville report DCI agents left the plant with boxes and what was believed to be office electronics. The Attorney General’s Office would not confirm these reports.
The prepared statement from the Attorney General’s Office:
The Iowa Attorney General’s Office previously has acknowledged that at the request of the Allamakee County Attorney the AG’s Office is serving in the role of prosecutor in the enforcement of state laws in connection with investigations arising out of the May 12 activities at the Agriprocessors Postville facility. We are assisting the DCI and the Iowa State Division of Labor, which are the investigating agencies. That investigation is not yet complete.
In connection with that investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and assisting agencies executed a search warrant Friday at the Agriprocessors facility in Postville. No one was arrested.
The execution of a search warrant is not a finding of guilt. We note as usual that any potential criminal charge is merely an accusation and any potential defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
“As the Attorney General’s press release stated, no charges have been filed and the company, like everyone else in America, is to be ‘presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty,’” said Abrahams.
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