Only hours after Boston’s top prosecutor criticized federal immigration officials on Wednesday as “extraordinarily reckless” for detaining a man mid-trial last week, the U.S. Department of Justice responded in a series of remarkable letters and court filings.

ICE agent Brian Sullivan apprehended Wilson Martell-Lebron last week as he was leaving the courthouse. However, a Boston Municipal Court judge ruled on Monday that Sullivan had violated Martell-Lebron’s rights to due process and a fair trial by taking him into custody during the proceedings, the Associated Press reported.

Judge holds ICE agent in contempt for detaining suspect in the middle of his trial - ‘I can't think of any greater injustice than a man who is taken away from his trial in the middle of it by the government,