BREAKING: Chicago Journalists Take ICE to Court
Lawsuit says federal officers deliberately targeted journalists with pepper balls, tear gas, and arrests to crush dissent under Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”
WASHINGTON — A coalition of Chicago journalists and press organizations filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Monday against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other agencies, accusing them of waging a campaign of violence and intimidation against reporters covering protests outside a suburban immigration detention facility.
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The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, names the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago, the Chicago Newspaper Guild, NABET-CWA Local 54041, the Illinois Press Association, and several individual journalists as plaintiffs. They allege that federal officers, acting under the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” targeted members of the press with rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas, flash grenades, and arbitrary arrests at demonstrations outside ICE’s Broadview.
“Federal agents have repeatedly fired less-lethal munitions directly at clearly identifiable members of the press,” the complaint states, describing what it calls a coordinated effort to “silence coverage of federal misconduct”.
Among those named as victims:
Raven Geary, a local reporter struck in the face with a pepper ball while taking a photograph, despite wearing a helmet marked “PRESS.”
Charles Thrush, a DePaul journalism student on assignment for Block Club Chicago, who was shot in the hand while filming.
Stephen Held, co-founder of Unraveled Press, tackled, handcuffed, and detained after documenting an arrest—while displaying multiple press credentials.
A CBS Chicago reporter who was attacked in her car when a federal officer fired pepper balls into her vehicle.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, seeking injunctive relief to bar federal agents from further violence against journalists, protesters, and clergy who have gathered daily at Broadview in opposition to stepped-up deportations.
The complaint also ties the violence to high-level directives from President Donald Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and other federal officials, accusing them of explicitly encouraging officers to “hammer” demonstrators and redefine protest zones as “free arrest zones.” It cites public comments by Trump labeling reporters “the enemy of the American people” and directing agents to suppress dissent in Democratic strongholds like Chicago.
Local leaders including Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson have denounced the federal deployment as an unnecessary occupation. Broadview’s mayor warned that relentless use of tear gas has endangered village residents and first responders.
The lawsuit mirrors similar litigation in Los Angeles, where the L.A. Press Club won a temporary injunction limiting federal agents’ use of crowd-control weapons against reporters and peaceful demonstrators earlier this year. Plaintiffs in Chicago now hope for comparable protections.
“Journalists should not have to choose between their safety and their duty to inform the public,” the plaintiffs argue. “This is about protecting the First Amendment at its breaking point.”
HT Kyle Cheney
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