Brian Straw

Can you think of a single movie in which there is a video from the government denouncing its political opponents playing on a loop in public spaces in which that government was the good guy?

I want everyone out there who looks down on faith in general to take a very close look at all of the faith leaders who are working tirelessly and putting themselves on the line to make the world better. Not all christians are evangelical, many actually take the new testament to heart.

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’ During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door. 

It wasn’t the feds —  it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

‪Jon Seidel‬ ‪@jonseidel.bsky.social‬ · 13m Perry: "I have seen no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois." ‪Jon Seidel‬ ‪@jonseidel.bsky.social‬ · 11m Perry: "Deportations are up. Arrests are up. … The courthouse remains open and always has. Federal laws are being executed. They're also being broken, as they have been since the beginning of time." ‪Jon Seidel‬ ‪@jonseidel.bsky.social‬ · 10m Perry: "There is no evidence that the president is unable, with the regular forces, to execute the laws of the United States." ‪Jon Seidel‬ ‪@jonseidel.bsky.social‬ · 10m Perry goes on to say the deployment of the National Guard is "likely to lead to civil unrest." ‪Jon Seidel‬ ‪@jonseidel.bsky.social‬ · 7m Perry: "Chicago's history of strained policing community relations is extremely well documented, but also fairly nuanced. It's something I think state and local authorities understand extremely well, and it can be hard for federal authorities, and certainly those from Texas, to appreciate."

Big win for Chicago & Democracy today: Partial TRO against Texas Natl Guard deployment here.

"U.S. District Judge: “I simply cannot credit declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement. … DHS’ perception of events are unreliable.”

chicago.suntimes.com/live/2025/10...

#BREAKING Federal judge in Chicago temporarily blocks the Trump administration from "ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois."

Perry asks the govt's counsel if they would potentially seek to send other state's national guard to Illinois if she used narrower language for the restraining order.

Counsel says yes.

"Ok, then I'm gonna go with the broader language," Perry says.

She says deploying national guard members untrained in de-escalation would "add fuel to the fire the defendants themselves have started."

U.S. District Judge April Perry says it comes down to a "credibility determination."

"I simply cannot credit [the Trump administration's] declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement. … DHS' perception of events are simply unreliable."

Chicago federal court chief judge says she has not requested National Guard for courthouse

Declaration of Russel Hott (Chicago Headline Club, et al., v. Noem, et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-12173.)

ICE admits to using more that $100,000 in "less lethal" munitions in the two weeks leading up to September 20, 2025. Given what we've seen the last couple weeks, it is probably a multiple of that now.

This is nuts.

But also increasingly common.

Ellis says she thinks "the compromise position here" is for agents to have alphanumeric IDs that don't necessarily display their names.

"What I don't want to hear is that the officers thought there was some risk and put tape over the numbers so they can't be identified," she says.

Ellis getting into her concerns over plainclothes agents.

She says she's willing to give some leeway to "undercover" officers, but says other agents, including those doing crowd control at protests, need to have ID that "identifies them numerically and by agency."

Both sides are springboarding off that hypothetical to try and bolster their arguments, but Ellis is maintaining she needs more time to consider everything.

She also acknowledges that appeals are likely to follow.

"This is not the only time a judge is gonna look at this order," she says.

Ellis says she will enter the restraining order not today, but tomorrow, given the complexities the attorneys have raised today around acceptable use of force, use of specific weapons and the resulting Fourth Amendment concerns.

18. Because the larger and more aggressive crowds of protesters made safe access to BSSA increasingly difficult, ERO Chicago used more than $100,000 worth of less lethal munitions and chemicals for crowd control in the two weeks spanning from September 6, 2025, to September 20, 2025. ICE has never needed to use such munitions at this location previously in over forty years.

ICE admitted today that it "used more than $100,000 of less lethal munitions and chemicals in the two weeks spanning from September 6, 2025, to September 20, 2025."

Declaration of Russel Hott (Chicago Headline Club, et al., v. Noem, et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-12173.)

Ellis says the order will direct "agents and officers to follow the training they've already received... and is essentially directing them to follow their own rules, policies, regulations... and the behavior that the constitution demands."

Ellis rules that the plaintiffs have standing for their case. She cites the "ongoing and sustained record of conduct" by federal agents gathered over the last month.

She further finds the plaintiffs have plausibly shown feds have "frustrated" efforts to "protect journalist safety."

Ellis highlights the attacks Reverend David Black has suffered at the Broadview facility, finding plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the feds' use of force against praying people "substantially burdens their excercise of religion."

Ellis finds the plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on allegations that feds' "expression of force... is unreasonable and excessive" in response to peaceful protests.

Ellis shoots that down. Any restraining order she grants won't be limited to the Broadview ICE facility.

"Given the record before me... these issues are not limited to Broadview," she says.

As troops invade Chicago, Trump threatens to jail the mayor and governor "What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"

This morning, Trump declared that the mayor of Chicago, Democrat Brandon Johnson, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”

“Governor Pritzker also!” Trump added.

If you think these threats are just bluster, consider that Comey was arraigned today—a longtime dream of Trump’s.

"If congressional Democrats believe in government, they should never vote to fund this one. . . . Let Republicans have the literal blood of American citizens on their hands—and make that the central issue of the shutdown."

We will rebuild.

These words would have resonated at an intellectual level with me two weeks ago.

After having Federal agents march more than 100 yards to attack me and a group of peaceful protestors with tear gas and baton rounds, it resonates in my soul.

Feds dropping charges against couple who lawfully carried guns outside ICE facility A defense attorney says a grand jury refused to indict in the high-profile case.

Federal prosecutors are dropping charges against the Chicago couple who lawfully carried guns outside Broadview's ICE facility last month.

A defense attorney tells @chicago.suntimes.com a grand jury refused to indict: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

A federal judge in Chicago says ICE violated a consent decree with warrantless arrests. blockclubchi.co/4nGUOQ8