A man leaving a Baltimore gas station one morning in 2018 soon found himself on the ground with an on-duty U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent pointing a gun at him.

The two had bumped into each other, sparking an argument. The man threatened the agent as he walked away from the store with groceries. The agent drew his gun, walked toward the man to confront him, then shoved him to the ground.

Baltimore Police arrested the agent, Raphael Battle, and charged him with assault and other offenses. With the city State’s Attorney’s Office prosecuting, Battle pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and was placed on probation.

But this was an unusual case. Local law enforcement rarely arrests and prosecutes federal agents.

Questions about whether local law enforcement should be doing more have escalated under President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. In recent weeks, federal agents have fatally shot two U.S. citizens during encounters in Minnesota, sparking national outrage and calls for more accountability for federal agents.

The Trump administration has said federal officers have “absolute immunity” from state and local prosecution.

Legal experts say that’s not true. And others are asking if the real question is not whether local authorities can prosecute federal agents who break the law but whether they have the courage to do so.

“There is not a total immunity or blanket immunity for a federal officer who commits an unlawful act, even if they’re committing that unlawful act while on duty,” said Cori Alonso-Yoder, director of the University of Maryland law school’s immigration clinic.

The law gives local authorities jurisdiction to arrest and prosecute federal agents under certain circumstances, but doing so is challenging.

The Trump administration blocked Minnesota police from accessing evidence of the shootings, both of which were captured by bystander videos, and subpoenaed top Minnesota officials as part of an apparent investigation into their impeding immigration enforcement.

Facing uncooperative federal law enforcement and a federal administration apparently willing to retaliate against anyone who doesn’t comply with its agenda can be intimidating, experts said.

“We’re in a whole new world where local law enforcement has to think about federal agents as potential perpetrators of crime rather than allies in their work,” said David Jaros, a criminal law professor at the University of Baltimore. “Moreover, it is true that we exist in a world where pushing back against the illegal activity of the federal government has prompted retribution and increased the degree to which unwanted federal interference has occurred.”

The Banner reached out to state’s attorney’s offices and police departments in Central Maryland asking whether they would arrest and prosecute federal officers who break the law. By and large, the officials said they would enforce state law no matter who violates it.

“Our job as prosecutors is to hold everyone accountable, and it doesn’t matter if you are a federal agent or whoever you are,” said Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, a Democrat who is president of the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association.

Bates has seen countless recent videos from Minnesota, not just of immigration officers’ fatally shooting Renee Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a nurse at the local veterans hospital. Some show agents using force against people they are arresting and residents protesting their tactics, which struck a nerve with Bates, who often protested as a Howard University student in Washington.

The Democratic state’s attorneys for Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and Prince George’s counties echoed Bates’ remarks.

“No one is above the law, and there is no separate standard for federal law enforcement officials or anyone else,” Anne Arundel’s Anne Colt Leitess said in an emailed statement.

Leitess must decide whether to pursue charges against federal agents who shot a Portuguese immigrant during an enforcement operation in Glen Burnie on Christmas Eve. A spokesperson for Leitess declined to comment on the investigation.

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office has prosecuted federal agents before, most recently securing convictions against an FBI agent for rape and a Pentagon Police officer for murder, spokesperson Lauren DeMarco said.

Harford County’s State’s Attorney Alison Healey, a Republican, did not respond to inquiries. Harford Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, also a Republican, declined to be interviewed or respond to questions.

Police departments in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties said their agencies do not assist with immigration enforcement. But officers would respond if residents call 911 about concerns of immigration agents committing crimes.

Officers typically have to witness a misdemeanor offense, such as simple assault, to make an on-site arrest. That is not the case with felonies, such as assaults involving weapons.

“If a crime is committed in the presence of an officer, then absolutely an officer will intervene,” Baltimore Police spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said.

In Prince George’s County, State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said she’d recently discussed federal immigration enforcement with the county’s police chief, George Nader, and they agreed police should not interfere with immigration enforcement but are obligated to intervene if they witness agents committing crimes.

“We can’t just stand back and observe clear violations, especially violent violations of the law, and not do something to bring peace,” Jackson said.

Montgomery County Police spokesperson Shiera Goff declined to answer questions, other than to say the agency doesn’t have the authority to arrest federal officers.

Leitess said ethics for prosecutors say they must believe they can prove a charge in court to pursue a case.

That analysis looms over decisions on prosecuting police because securing a conviction requires proving an officer acted outside of their job, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said.

If police believe a federal agent committed a state or local crime, they would apply for charges as they do against anyone else, Jaros said. A state’s attorney’s office would review those charges and decide whether to prosecute.

Assuming the case proceeds, the federal agent likely would seek to move it to federal court, arguing state courts lack jurisdiction over federal officers acting within the scope of their duties, Jaros and other law professors said. State prosecutors would continue handling the case.

A federal judge would determine whether the officer’s alleged crime fell within their official duties and they believed their actions were authorized. If the judge finds an agent is protected by immunity because their actions were “objectively reasonable,” they would dismiss the case, the law professors said.

“It’s a very murky, gray area. If they’re here acting in the scope of their duties, theoretically they would not be answerable to state entities,” Howard County State’s Attorney Rich Gibson said.

If, for example, a federal agent was caught speeding while off duty, local prosecutors clearly have jurisdiction to prosecute, Gibson said. But if that officer was speeding in the course of official duties, local prosecutors likely couldn’t.

Battle, the federal agent who pulled a gun on a man in Baltimore, didn’t ask to have his case moved to federal court but argued to a city judge that he was immune from prosecution under state law because he was a federal officer.

The judge found Battle’s actions fell outside the scope of his official duties and were not objectively reasonable, thus he was not entitled to immunity. A Maryland appeals court agreed.

Bennett L. Gershman of Pace University’s law school in New York said some videos from Minnesota appear to show federal immigration agents acting beyond the scope of their authority — such as spraying chemical irritants in the faces of protesters.

“Filming police in action is authorized, protected by the First Amendment and by federal statutes. So that cannot be a basis for retaliation,” said Gershman, who served as a prosecutor in New York for a decade. “People have rights and, if the ICE agents don’t like it, tough.”

Gershman said local officials are often cautious about arresting federal agents, given that they are outgunned.

“I think local officials don’t feel they have the physical means to rebuff the onslaught of these massive forces of these immigration officials in these communities,” he said.

But he also believes local officials have an obligation.

“There is still a rule of law in this country that [federal agents] have to follow,” Gershman said. “And, if they violate those laws, they can be held accountable.”