Ricardo Ruiz, a Trump activist who’s been jailed for a year after clashing with Berkeley police, is seeking release on mental health grounds.
Ruiz, 34, was shot by police during a standoff over domestic violence allegations at his home near University Avenue.
During the standoff, on April 13, 2025, police say Ruiz racked a shotgun, threatened officers and fired a high-powered air rifle at them.
After trying to talk him down, police ultimately fired back, striking Ruiz in the eye. The officers escaped injury.
The case has been a rollercoaster from the start, with Ruiz initially demanding a speedy process and a judge ordering an impromptu psych review amid a tense hearing about an attorney shakeup last year.
(His original attorney quit after Ruiz failed to pay her, according to court records.)
During a mental health evaluation last summer, a court-appointed psychiatrist deemed Ruiz competent to stand trial and said there was “no indication” of any “mental disorder,” according to the court file.
The psychiatrist also wrote that a prior assessment by Adult Forensic Behavioral Health, the mental health unit at Santa Rita Jail, had found “no mental health diagnosis or condition” for Ruiz, according to court records.
It was not until December, on the eve of trial, that Ruiz decided to pursue diversion on the basis of mental health claims, records show.
“As if it never happened”
Fast-forward to last Wednesday, when attorneys on both sides appeared in court to put forward their positions on the mental health petition.
(Documents related to their arguments are not part of the public record.)
“If the court approves diversion and you complete treatment, the charges are dismissed and the arrest is treated as if it never happened,” one law firm writes about these cases.
In Alameda County, mental health diversion petitions have proliferated in recent years, including in response to serious and violent charges.
Maggie Watts, for the prosecution, said the “delusional disorder” finding for Ruiz by a licensed psychiatrist had its limitations, including a reliance on just part of the evidence.
As a result, she argued, Judge Elisa Della-Piana could reject it.
Watts said many of the beliefs Ruiz has espoused are unpopular but based in reality.
“We are ignoring facts and calling them delusions,” she said. “The kernels of truth outweigh the delusions. The kernels of truth are reasonable.”
Watts described Ruiz as a local political activist and “staunch local Donald Trump supporter.”
She said he had an established history of showing “disdain for law enforcement” and several convictions dating back to 2012.
Because of his conduct, there are three people — an ex-girlfriend, her father and a former coworker — who each have protective orders keeping him away from them, she said.
Ruiz has no felonies but, as a result of his criminal record, he cannot own guns.
Police found two loaded weapons after the shooting: an air rifle and a shotgun. BPD
Watts argued that Ruiz’s “disdain for people telling him what to do” was “the true driver of his behavior — and not any mental health diagnosis.”
His actions, she said, had shown he was unlikely to comply with court orders or police if released from custody.
“Mr. Ruiz clearly thinks he is above the law,” Watts said.
Watts also pointed out that the DA’s office had tested the air rifle Ruiz had fired at police, shooting it into ballistic gelatin, which mimics human flesh.
The tests found that the lead pellets, fired from the distance Ruiz had been from officers, “could penetrate 9 inches into a body cavity.”
“It shoots with enough force to penetrate a human skull,” she said. “This is something that could easily have killed any one of the police on scene.”
That day, she said, Ruiz had unnecessarily escalated what could have been a misdemeanor domestic violence call, firing the air rifle into his ceiling and at a dumpster police were using as cover.
“He chose to take the deadly option,” she said, telling police he would “shoot indiscriminately” and “use deadly force.”
Ruiz is facing a long list of felony charges, including multiple counts of assault on a peace officer, exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer and unlawful firearm activity.
Watts said Ruiz had previously denied he was mentally ill, demanding a “no-time-waiver jury trial” last year.
“He is not actually looking for treatment,” Watts said. “He is looking for an easy way out of his felony case.”
Ricardo Ruiz in a 2025 booking photo from the Berkeley Police Department. BPD
When it was his turn to speak, Matthew Dalton, the public defender now representing Ruiz, emphasized that the law governing mental health diversion, which was approved in 2018, has several key elements.
First, it requires a qualified mental health diagnosis from a clinician, which Ruiz had secured, he said.
Describing Ruiz’s delusional beliefs — that he was targeted because he is a Trump supporter, that he was “swatted” (subjected to fake police calls) by detractors, that federal agents listen to his calls — Dalton said they largely revolved around his politics.
Mental health diversion also requires a nexus between the diagnosis and the behavior that resulted in criminal charges.
Dalton said that was the case here.
“The delusions described … led to the conduct in this case,” he argued.
He didn’t have to say much more on that subject because the law, entitled “Diversion of individuals with mental disorders,” assumes the link unless there’s clear proof to the contrary.
“The court shall find that the defendant’s mental disorder was a significant factor in the commission of the offense,” the penal code reads, “unless there is clear and convincing evidence that it was not a motivating factor.”
The law was designed, Dalton explained, to get people the treatment they need to stop going in and out of custody, often getting worse over time.
Dalton said Ruiz wanted mental health treatment and was ready to accept it.
“He would like to come to grips with why he did what he did,” Dalton told the court.
According to Dalton, Ruiz started taking medication for his disorder six weeks ago. He participates in therapy and takes classes in jail, too, he said.
There was also no evidence that Ruiz would pose an “unreasonable risk,” if released, of committing a “super strike” (such as murder or rape), Dalton said, another requirement of the mental health diversion law.
“He’s been living in this political world,” Dalton said. “Treatment is the way to do better. That’s the way forward for him.”
Watts, the prosecutor, observed that the diversion petition had initially come up in November or December — but Ruiz had waited until March to start taking medication.
She said that delay might be a strong indicator of how he would approach treatment.
In the end, Judge Elisa Della-Piana said she needed more time to make her ruling.
The defense, she said, had brought forward a qualifying mental health diagnosis, and the link to his conduct was “presumed” under the law.
But she said she wasn’t convinced that the proposed treatment plan was sufficient.
She said releasing Ruiz to a three-month residential treatment program, in line with available county services, did not seem adequate.
That was “too short of a time” and would go by “quite quickly,” Della-Piana said.
“I’m not sure that, in this case, it would do it,” she said.
She added that she was concerned, in part, because Ruiz was “brand new to treatment” given that he’d only begun medication six weeks earlier.
Dalton said he heard her concern and was looking for an “intensive outpatient program” that Ruiz could transition into after the three months of residential treatment ended.
Della-Piana asked Dalton to come back with more details, suggesting that something closer to a year in a structured environment “with a significant treatment component” would be more appropriate.
The judge also asked Ruiz to share his feelings about mental health treatment going forward. His remarks were brief.
Ruiz said he had been raised in south Los Angeles and experienced things when he was young that he wanted to work through.
“I never really had the option to reach out for help,” he said.
Della-Piana said she would hold off on her ruling until at least June 16 so Ruiz could continue his treatment in jail and get more time under his belt.
Meanwhile, the prosecution said it would use the extra time to bring on its own expert to make findings on the mental health diagnosis.
The judge said the prosecution would not be allowed to examine Ruiz directly due to broader ongoing litigation about mental health assessments — but said it could review records from the case.
Private surveillance camera footage released by BPD shows police move in after shooting a man during a domestic violence investigation in April. BPD
Before the hearing ended, Della-Piana briefly addressed the dozen or more BPD officers who had come to support two colleagues, both named victims in the case, who read statements Wednesday about how that day in April 2025 had impacted them.
One of the officers described standing on the roof above Ruiz, hearing him rack a shotgun that morning.
“I will never forget that sound,” he said. “I believed I could be shot. It was one of the most frightening experiences of my 27-year career.”
He went on to say that Ruiz was “controlled” that day, making “a series of escalating decisions” that were “purposeful”: “issuing threats, arming himself and discharging a weapon in our direction.”
The other officer described Ruiz in similar ways, calling his actions “deliberate and sustained.”
“What stands out to me most is not just the danger of that moment, but the willingness he demonstrated to use violence against others,” he said. “The same behavior directed at us could just as easily be directed at any member of the community.”
He asked the judge to let the case go to trial in the interest of accountability.
Della-Piana thanked the officers for being there and said Ruiz’s conduct last year was “deeply problematic.”
She said she had read through a lengthy transcript from last year’s preliminary hearing, where evidence had been presented. Afterward, a judge ordered Ruiz to stand trial.
Della-Piana said the officers’ repeated attempts to deescalate the situation that day “in the face of significant danger” were “outstanding.”
“This was an incredibly dangerous situation,” she said.
Read more about the Ricardo Ruiz case. Stay tuned for ongoing coverage.
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