CHICAGO — Block Club Chicago and organizations representing reporters across the city and state are suing the federal government for its actions against journalists outside the Broadview ICE facility.
Our nonprofit newsroom focused on Chicago’s neighborhoods is taking this action after four of our journalists have been indiscriminately shot with pepper-spray bullets and tear-gassed by federal agents as they covered protests at the Broadview facility after the Trump administration deployed federal forces to the Chicago area to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to bar federal agents from, among other things, indiscriminately using chemical weapons against journalists, asserting their First Amendment right to report.
The newsroom is joined by the Chicago Headline Club, the Illinois Press Association, the Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, The National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians and Communication Workers of America local 54041 and independent journalists and protesters in bringing the lawsuit as plaintiffs. The groups are represented pro-bono by attorneys with Loevy & Loevy, the ACLU of Illinois and other firms. Read the full complaint here.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued federal agents sent to the area have used violent force against the press, elected officials, religious leaders and other people engaged in peaceful protest and other protected activities.
“Never in modern times has the federal government undermined bedrock constitutional protections on this scale, or usurped states’ police power by directing federal agents to carry out an illegal mission against the people for the government’s own benefit,” the complaint states.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis heard arguments at an emergency hearing Monday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. Attorneys for the federal government argued ICE officers are being doxxed, putting them in danger, according to independent law journalist Chris Geidner. Ellis responded, “That doesn’t mean that you then get to do this job and be anonymous. … Under the rule of law, it is important to be transparent.”
Ellis indicated she is likely to issue a temporary ruling at a hearing Wednesday that could bar federal agents from using riot control weapons like pepper-spray bullets and tear gas against peaceful journalists and protesters. Until then, she said, the Department of Homeland Security “is on notice,” regarding the conduct challenged in the complaint.
DOJ gives a Trump-like answer as to the claim of what’s going on, with stark violence and such.Ellis: “I think we have a different idea of what’s going on in Chicago.”Plaintiffs lawyer responds in agreement, saying that it’s primarily soccer moms and skinny kids yelling at ICE agents.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T21:24:59.896Z
Stephanie Lulay, Block Club executive editor and co-founder, said the newsroom’s ability to report on the protests at Broadview has been impacted by federal agents’ actions.
“We intend to continue to report on the protests, but our ability to do so, to the standards that we hold ourselves to, continues to be impacted by our fears of violence and arrests of our employees and contractors,” Lulay said. “We’re taking this step to protect our journalists and to assert our First Amendment right to report.”
In a statement, the Chicago Headline Club’s Board of Directors said the targeting of reporters and photographers covering demonstrations outside the Broadview ICE facility “is more than an assault on the press — it’s an assault on the public’s right to know. When journalists are silenced, the public loses access to the truth about government actions.”
The Chicago lawsuit follows a suit in Los Angeles brought by the L.A. Press Club and others alleging police violated journalists’ First Amendment rights by using excessive force, including at ICE protests. A preliminary injunction was granted last month barring L.A. police from arresting journalists and limiting their use of force.
In May, Block Club Chicago sued ICE and its parent department, Homeland Security, for violating the federal Freedom of Information Act, a law that protects citizens’ right to information about their government, after the federal agency withheld key arrest information even after a formal records request and multiple follow-up inquiries. That suit is ongoing.
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