BROADVIEW, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 27: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino stand together amidst a tense pro...BROADVIEW, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 27: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino stand together amidst a tense protest outside the ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois, on September 27, 2025. Demonstrators gathered to oppose the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations, including 'Operation Midway Blitz,' as clashes escalated with reports of tear gas and pepper balls used to disperse crowds. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)MORE LESS
Ever since the Trump Administration started to blitz Chicago with a surge of federal immigration enforcement, it’s touted the arrests of people who’ve gathered to protest the operations.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
These cases are important not only because prosecutors are withdrawing them in their initial stages. The administration has sought, largely successfully, to portray these operations in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere as focused on immigration enforcement. They involve large numbers of federal law enforcement officers ostensibly charged with related missions: CBP patrols the border; ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration law (as administrative as it may be). Showy missions like the Blackhawk helicopter raid on a South Side Chicago apartment building use pyrotechnics to reinforce that impression.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
A close look at the cases that the administration has brought in court shows that the government’s charges, mostly of assaulting or resisting federal officers, are faltering as they come up against video evidence or lack thereof. In at least four cases that were brought in connection with protests against Midway Blitz, Chicago federal prosecutors either withdrew charges or had a judge declare that they failed to meet their burden of probable cause, per a TPM review.
These cases are important not only because prosecutors are withdrawing them in their initial stages. The administration has sought, largely successfully, to portray these operations in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere as focused on immigration enforcement. They involve large numbers of federal law enforcement officers ostensibly charged with related missions: CBP patrols the border; ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration law (as administrative as it may be). Showy missions like the Blackhawk helicopter raid on a South Side Chicago apartment building use pyrotechnics to reinforce that impression.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
“You hear a lot of elected officials saying, they’re out there protesting, they’re out there exercising their First Amendment rights. But you don’t go in there and truck in shields, rocks, tear gas grenades – that isn’t the First Amendment,” acting ICE director Todd Lyons said. “That right there is just domestic terrorism.”
A close look at the cases that the administration has brought in court shows that the government’s charges, mostly of assaulting or resisting federal officers, are faltering as they come up against video evidence or lack thereof. In at least four cases that were brought in connection with protests against Midway Blitz, Chicago federal prosecutors either withdrew charges or had a judge declare that they failed to meet their burden of probable cause, per a TPM review.
These cases are important not only because prosecutors are withdrawing them in their initial stages. The administration has sought, largely successfully, to portray these operations in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere as focused on immigration enforcement. They involve large numbers of federal law enforcement officers ostensibly charged with related missions: CBP patrols the border; ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration law (as administrative as it may be). Showy missions like the Blackhawk helicopter raid on a South Side Chicago apartment building use pyrotechnics to reinforce that impression.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Sometimes it describes these people as “domestic terrorists,” other times “rioters.” Greg Bovino — the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commander with a checkered past who leads what the Trump administration calls Operation Midway Blitz — has called them “unhinged, vile mouthed individuals.” One senior ICE official told Glenn Beck that those arrested during protests against the operation were “professional agitators that are being brought in.”
“You hear a lot of elected officials saying, they’re out there protesting, they’re out there exercising their First Amendment rights. But you don’t go in there and truck in shields, rocks, tear gas grenades – that isn’t the First Amendment,” acting ICE director Todd Lyons said. “That right there is just domestic terrorism.”
A close look at the cases that the administration has brought in court shows that the government’s charges, mostly of assaulting or resisting federal officers, are faltering as they come up against video evidence or lack thereof. In at least four cases that were brought in connection with protests against Midway Blitz, Chicago federal prosecutors either withdrew charges or had a judge declare that they failed to meet their burden of probable cause, per a TPM review.
These cases are important not only because prosecutors are withdrawing them in their initial stages. The administration has sought, largely successfully, to portray these operations in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere as focused on immigration enforcement. They involve large numbers of federal law enforcement officers ostensibly charged with related missions: CBP patrols the border; ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration law (as administrative as it may be). Showy missions like the Blackhawk helicopter raid on a South Side Chicago apartment building use pyrotechnics to reinforce that impression.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
Sometimes it describes these people as “domestic terrorists,” other times “rioters.” Greg Bovino — the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commander with a checkered past who leads what the Trump administration calls Operation Midway Blitz — has called them “unhinged, vile mouthed individuals.” One senior ICE official told Glenn Beck that those arrested during protests against the operation were “professional agitators that are being brought in.”
“You hear a lot of elected officials saying, they’re out there protesting, they’re out there exercising their First Amendment rights. But you don’t go in there and truck in shields, rocks, tear gas grenades – that isn’t the First Amendment,” acting ICE director Todd Lyons said. “That right there is just domestic terrorism.”
A close look at the cases that the administration has brought in court shows that the government’s charges, mostly of assaulting or resisting federal officers, are faltering as they come up against video evidence or lack thereof. In at least four cases that were brought in connection with protests against Midway Blitz, Chicago federal prosecutors either withdrew charges or had a judge declare that they failed to meet their burden of probable cause, per a TPM review.
These cases are important not only because prosecutors are withdrawing them in their initial stages. The administration has sought, largely successfully, to portray these operations in Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere as focused on immigration enforcement. They involve large numbers of federal law enforcement officers ostensibly charged with related missions: CBP patrols the border; ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration law (as administrative as it may be). Showy missions like the Blackhawk helicopter raid on a South Side Chicago apartment building use pyrotechnics to reinforce that impression.
But the reality is that these overbearing operations also affect U.S. citizens. They involve federal law enforcement taking aggressive steps against people who record their actions or who stage protests. The increased threat of facing charges after appearing at a protest can have a chilling effect as well.
The charges also come after the White House issued NSPM-7 on September 25. NSPM-7 is a national security memorandum that directs federal law enforcement to consider “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity” as well as opposition to traditional values as factors that may lead a person to commit acts of political violence. Days later, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois and Oregon on Sept. 29 to be maximally aggressive in charging “every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations.”
This aggressive approach has led to multiple cases in which prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue their initial charges after video evidence seemingly failed to support the original allegations. Most of the footage – or lack thereof – has come from body-worn cameras, donned by some, but not all, DHS agents operating in the city.
Federal prosecutors charged Oak Park, Illinois resident Cole Sheridan on October 4 with assaulting, impeding, or resisting a federal agent over a situation that took place outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago. In an affidavit attached to the complaint, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent alleged that Sheridan pushed Border Patrol officers during an Oct. 3 protest.
At a hearing last week, however, that account was called into question. Bovino, the flashy CBP commander, was involved in the arrest; per a federal official at the hearing, he was not wearing a body cam during the incident.
That lack of video prompted open skepticism from the judge.
“Without video of the actual physical exchange … there is only the evidence of the hearsay statement of Bovino,” Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain reportedly said. McShain found that there was no probable cause to support the “assault” portion of the charge, per an order. The magistrate allowed other portions of the charge, including resisting a federal agent, to move forward.
Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, 70, was charged on Sept. 29 via criminal complaint with a felony count of assaulting a federal officer at a protest. The affidavit, made by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, cited YouTube videos in alleging that Briggs had swung his arm at a Border Patrol officer, and said that other officers had been wearing their cameras at the time.
Days later, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the initial complaint and replace it with a misdemeanor. That charge omitted the assault allegation.
The reversal prompted the magistrate in the case, Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes, to ask to review the same videos on which the initial affidavit was based, saying in an order that the sworn affirmation had been “a substantial part of the basis for the Court’s initial determination of probable cause on the complaint.”
Magistrate Judge Fuentes has had two other Midway Blitz cases end after prosecutors declined to support claims made in the initial affidavit. Federal prosecutors charged Hubert Mazur via criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a federal officer. An FBI special agent wrote that after a Border Patrol agent pushed Mazur back, the two fell to the ground.
Days later, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case. At a hearing, government attorneys said that a review of additional body-worn camera footage prompted the decision. Judge Fuentes had prosecutors confirm, according to a minute order, that the FBI agent had sworn under oath that he had reviewed video evidence, and that that affirmation is what prompted the judge to find probable cause.
Paul Ivery was charged on Sept. 28 with felony assault of a federal officer. An HSI agent alleged in an affidavit that Ivery shouted, “I’ll fucking kill you right now” at Border Patrol officers. He then ran away and grabbed an agent’s helmet as he was being arrested, the affidavit said, citing body-worn camera footage.
Prosecutors dropped that case last week and Fuentes put down the same record in an order: he only found probable cause because the affidavit cited video evidence.
Other resisting federal officer cases against Chicago protesters have also fallen short.
One, filed against a couple that ICE accused of being “armed rioters,” was dismissed after a grand jury declined to indict. Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago resident and teacher, was accused in a DHS press release of being a “domestic terrorist” and of ramming a government SUV while armed. An affidavit filed in her case said that Martinez’s car “drove into and side-swiped” a CBP car, and contradicts the DHS press release on a few points: there were only two cars in the convoy, according to the affidavit, not ten, as DHS claimed. A CBP officer purportedly shot Martinez multiple times during the episode.
Body-worn camera footage undermined the government’s account there, her attorney has said. Instead, video shows that she shouted “la migra” while driving alongside immigration enforcement in Chicago, her attorney told the Chicago Sun-Times. As she shouted the warning about ICE’s presence, a CBP agent purportedly shouted, “do something, bitch,” before firing at her. The government later allowed the agent to drive the car back to his home in Maine, per a court hearing in the case.
That episode attracted national attention. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it in a Thursday letter, demanding body camera footage and to know how Laura Loomer apparently received photos from the scene.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois did not return requests for comment.
