A group of Chicago press associations, journalists, nonprofits and unions sued the Trump administration and its top officials Monday, saying federal agents had used “extreme brutality” at local protests to silence both the press and civilians.
The organizations — who were also joined in the suit by individual protesters — allege in the 52-page suit that federal agents acted to “intimidate and silence” civilians and members of the media who did not pose an imminent threat to law enforcement at protests outside a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility — posing a violation to protesters’ and journalists’ First Amendment rights.
“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 suit states.
The litigation is the most recent push against the Trump administration’s use of force in Chicago, as federal agents continue to clash with protesters and Trump moves to send National Guard troops into the city.
The plaintiffs are urging the court to protect the First Amendment rights of protesters to peacefully demonstrate around the facility and of journalists to “observe, record, and report on the federal agents’ activities and the public’s demonstrations against them.”
The suit — which was filed by the newsroom Block Club Chicago, the Chicago Headline Club, local labor unions representing Chicago-area journalists and a group of individual journalist and protesters — lists specific incidents in which they say agents targeted the press, including instances where they allege six journalists were hit with either pepper balls or tear gas despite wearing visible press credentials.
They also list eight examples of protesters and residents who they said were harmed or injured by ICE officers’ “violent presence” — including a minister for a local Presbyterian Church who allegedly was struck by the pepper balls and sprayed with tear gas while trying to offer prayers to the crowd.
Videos show agents firing pepper balls and tear gas at crowds as demonstrators attempted to block ICE vehicles from the facility. A reporter for CBS News Chicago said a masked ICE agent shot a pepper ball at her car, burning her face.
“The federal officers’ brutality is not a response to the violation of any previously given order to disperse or to desist,” the lawsuit states. “Rather, the brutality described in the prior paragraphs is deployed solely to silence dissent, to intimidate, and to instill fear.”
Trump plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Chicago this week to quell the clashes outside ICE centers and crack down on crime in the city. Illinois and Chicago also moved to sue the Trump administration on Monday in an attempt to block the deployment, but the judge assigned to the case said she wouldn’t act on the litigation until Thursday.
The White House and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin claimed federal officers have faced increased assaults at the protests in Chicago, saying the First Amendment protects “speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting.”
“We remind members of the media to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks — though our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights,” she said.
