The Latest: Opening statements held in activist’s trial

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Latest on the second trial against a border activist accused of harbouring immigrants (all times local):

5 p.m.

Attorneys have delivered opening statements in the retrial of an Arizona border activist after a federal judge banned the defence from mentioning President Donald Trump and his policies.

The second trial against 37-year-old Scott Warren began Tuesday. He faces two felony counts of harbouring.

Warren says he was fulfilling his mission as a humanitarian when he took in two Central American who had crossed the border. The government argues the men weren’t injured and Warren helped them avoid Border Patrol agents.

Prosecutors filed a motion on Oct. 31 requesting that Warren be banned from mentioning the president. Warren and his supporters say aid groups like the one he volunteers with are increasingly under political attack.

U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins on Tuesday granted the request.

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2:40 p.m.

A judge has banned an Arizona border activist from mentioning President Donald Trump during his retrial on charges of harbouring immigrants.

U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins on Tuesday granted a motion by prosecutors to bar the mention of the president during the second trial against 37-year-old Scott Warren, whose first trial ended with a deadlocked jury.

Collins said the case shouldn’t involve politics.

Warren’s defence and supporters say humanitarian aid groups like the one he volunteers with have been increasingly targeted by the Trump administration.

Prosecutors say Warren illegally helped two Central American men who had sneaked across the U.S. border, giving them shelter in a camp run by the group No More Deaths and giving them directions on how to avoid a Border Patrol checkpoint.

Warren says he was being a Good Samaritan.

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10:43 a.m.

Jury selection has begun in the second trial against a border activist on accusations that he harboured two immigrant men who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

The trial against 37-year-old Scott Warren began Tuesday, just months after a jury in Tucson was deadlocked on charges against him.

Warren says he was fulfilling his mission as a humanitarian when he took in two Central American men and provided aid. The government says the men weren’t injured and that Warren also helped them evade authorities.

This marks the second time federal prosecutors have tried to get a conviction.

Warren and his group, No More Deaths, say their work leaving water out in the desert and helping injured migrants is increasingly under attack.

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12 a.m.

The second trial against a border activist accused of harbouring immigrants in the country illegally is set to start on Tuesday.

The federal government will once again try to get a conviction against Scott Warren, an Ajo, Arizona, resident, after a jury deadlocked on charges in June.

Warren, 37, says he was fulfilling his mission as a humanitarian aid worker when two Central American men arrived at his group’s camp near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The government says he was harbouring them and even gave them instructions on how to evade a Border Patrol checkpoint.

Warren and the group he volunteers with, No More Deaths, say humanitarian work at the border is increasingly under attack. Other members of the group have been charged with misdemeanour crimes related to their work.