A judge on Wednesday dismissed all charges against three of the five “extremist Muslims” connected to the New Mexico compound case, The Daily Wire and multiple other sources are reporting in this breaking story.
District Judge Emilio Chavez reportedly said that prosecutors did not move fast enough, according to the state’s laws.
“Child abuse charges against Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj were dropped because prosecutors missed the 10-day limit for an evidentiary hearing to establish probable cause,” Fox News reported.
The official order will be filed at 4 p.m. following a hearing for the other two defendants.
The judge said Wednesday that it was a very difficult decision for him to drop the charges.
But the judge also said the rule left him with no option.
Prosecutors could still seek charges for the three by requesting that a grand jury indict them, but as of now they have offered no immediate indication on how they would proceed.
Charges remain in place against the other two individuals who were arrested: Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Jany Leveille are still accused of child abuse crimes after authorities found 11 youngsters starving and neglected in a filthy compound.
Related: Judge in New Mexico Compound Case Says Prosecutors Are Anti-Muslim (and It Gets Even Worse)
The suspects were arrested by authorities after an August 3 raid following a months-long search investigating the disappearance of Abdul-ghani Wahhaj, a three-year-boy with medical issues who went missing from the state of Georgia in December.
Court filings in the case from early August revealed that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj allegedly conducted “weapons training with assault rifles” with the intent of having the children commit school shootings.
Court documents showed that the young boys allegedly were being trained to carry out mass shootings, as Fox News and other outlets reported at the time.
Investigators found a “handwritten document titled ‘Phases of a Terrorist Attack,'” as CNN reported — along with clues that the “extremist Muslims” had allegedly planned an attack on a hospital.
Details about the judge’s decision on Wednesday are still emerging.
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