With Bovino and Company Gone From Chicago, Plaintiffs Drop Injunctive Lawsuit Over DHS Use of Force Against Protesters, Clergy, and Press

CHICAGO—Today, plaintiffs in Chicago Headline Club v. Noem—a federal lawsuit over excessive use of force against protesters and press by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forces under Operation Midway Blitz—voluntarily dismissed their case, as Gregory Bovino’s DHS forces have already left the region.   

“We won our case the day they left town,” said attorney David B. Owens of Loevy + Loevy and Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Law, director of the Civil Rights and Justice Clinic. “The people of Chicago stood up to the Trump administration’s bullying and intimidation, and showed them they were messing with the wrong city.”

The Chicago Headline Club (CHC) joined with their fellow plaintiffs in deciding to drop the case. "We won a great victory for press freedom in the U.S. District Court," the Board of CHC said in a statement. "Given that ICE and the Border Patrol have reduced their presence for now, we don't see a need to keep the court fight going. We'll take the win." 

“This case started out being about the Trump administration’s attempt to scare people who protested Operation Midway Blitz and reporters who documented it,” says plaintiff Autumn Reidy-Hamer of Oak Park, who was twice tear-gassed while protesting at the Broadview ICE facility. “But we made it clear that Chicago was going to keep protesting and bearing witness no matter what the federal government did. Chicago stood up to the bully, and the bully backed down.”

"We are a city built on courage,” reflected University of Chicago Clinical Law Professor Craig Futterman. “The people of Chicago proved that the U.S. Constitution still means something in our city. And federal judges have embraced their responsibility to enjoin federal agents when they violate people’s fundamental rights. This is why I love Chicago.”

On November 6, U.S. District Court Judge Sara L. Ellis issued an oral ruling restricting the use of force by federal troops. It was the latest in a series of setbacks Chicago has dealt the Trump administration in court. Plaintiffs' attorneys have received no significant reports of ICE or CBP violence against protesters, clergy, or journalists since Nov. 8, and it appears that Bovino and company left town the following week.

On November 20, Judge Ellis released her 233-page written opinion, documenting dozens of incidents of unwarranted brutality and calling out DHS officials on the many lies they told in attempting to justify their violence. The opinion is available here. The videos and documents referenced by Judge Ellis are available here.

Attorney Steve Art of Loevy + Loevy explained that the plaintiffs felt there was nothing more to be gained by continuing to litigate the case, given the end of Operation Midway Blitz and the departure of Bovino from the region.

“Because of the work of many Chicagoans, including the brave plaintiffs in this case, the brutality of Operation Midway Blitz was carefully documented for all to see, the constitutional rights of civilians across the region were vindicated, and the Trump administration’s justifications for its conduct were exposed as blatant lies,” says Art. “Judge Ellis’s powerful opinion stands as the final word in this case, and as a defining document of our time.”

“We are proud that we held this administration accountable and helped persuade them to leave our communities in peace,” says Rev. Abby Holcombe, a plaintiff in the case whose faith called her to speak out for detainees at Broadview. “But a huge amount of damage has been done. Thousands of our neighbors have disappeared, without due process and without a trace. Thousands more—including a generation of Chicago children—have been terrified and traumatized by the reckless, lawless brutality of these agents. Let us be clear, we in the Chicagoland area will fight for our neighbors and for our rights if and when the Trump Administration returns.”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include media outlets such as Block Club Chicago, Chicago Headline Club, the Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians Local 54041; and individual journalists, religious leaders, protesters, and observers. 

“The protesters, journalists, and clergy who brought this case embody the First Amendment values that undergird our democracy,” said Rebecca K. Glenberg, chief first amendment litigator at the ACLU of Illinois.  “We are proud to have represented them.”

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Loevy + Loevy, the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Chicago School of Law, First Defense Legal Aid, Protect Democracy, and the ACLU of Illinois.

The plaintiffs and attorneys all made it clear that, while dismissing this case, they stand prepared to continue the fight in the future if needed.

“The retreat of DHS agents from Chicago is due in large part to the bravery of our plaintiffs and every Chicagoan who spoke up about the brutality they experienced because they exercised their First Amendment rights," said Katie Schwartzmann, counsel at Protect Democracy. "We must also remain clear-eyed about what we just witnessed. Operation Midway Blitz was not a good-faith attempt to enforce immigration law, but rather a test run for the Trump Administration to normalize extreme violence by federal agents on American streets. We have proven that these tactics can be defeated, and we must remain vigilant against future attempts by the federal government to sow chaos in our communities.”