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{
"title": "Pete Hegseth targets news outlets, leakers as defense secretary",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers-as-defense-secretary/",
"first_published_at": "2025-04-03T16:34:25.156292Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T14:47:32.693726Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-03T14:47:32.588176Z",
"date": "2025-10-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yzj9y\">Shortly after President Donald Trump’s second term began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Trump in taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered him and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Hegseth’s efforts in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ommm\">Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v0ko\"><i>This article was first published on March 21, 2025.</i></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"9vs77\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p>\r\n<div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Oct 1\">Oct. 1, 2025 | Pentagon to require nondisclosure agreements, random polygraph testing</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#May 26\">May 26, 2025 | Defense Department attempts to bar CNN reporter from foreign trip</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#March 21\">March 21, 2025 | Defense Department announces investigation into media leaks</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yzj9y\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"d7qmh\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Oct 1\" name=\"Oct 1\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s6tia\"><b>Oct. 1, 2025 | Pentagon to require nondisclosure agreements, random polygraph testing</b></p><p data-block-key=\"ej59a\">In its latest move to combat leaks, the Pentagon plans to require all employees within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff to sign nondisclosure agreements and to subject them to random polygraph testing, The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/01/pentagon-pete-hegseth-crackdown-leaks/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F451a1bb%2F68dd5180fe87267da2461848%2F59729333ae7e8a1cf4ab937e%2F11%2F66%2F68dd5180fe87267da2461848\">reported</a> on Oct. 1, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhsba\">The estimated 5,000 military service members, civilian employees and contractors will be asked to sign an NDA that “prohibits the release of non-public information without approval or through a defined process.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54fs\">The Post reported that the requirements are part of a larger strategy to identify and remove not only leakers but also those deemed insufficiently loyal to the Trump administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f0u2\">News of the planned measures also comes on the heels of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-restricts-journalists-access-inside-pentagon/#update-1009\">new press restrictions</a> issued on Sept. 19, which mandate that journalists pledge to obtain approval before releasing information gathered at the Pentagon, even if unclassified.</p><p data-block-key=\"cabuf\">A seventeen-page <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/09/20/us/pentagon-press-restrictions.html\">memo</a>, signed by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, asserted that “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” Refusal or noncompliance could result in the loss of press credentials and access to the Pentagon.</p><p data-block-key=\"41g09\">The new rules, issued under the insignia of the “Department of War,” the <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/04/nx-s1-5529420/trump-department-of-war-department-of-defense\">newly designated</a> “secondary title” for the Department of Defense, also forbade unescorted access to large areas of the building. A May<a href=\"https://media.defense.gov/2025/May/23/2003721693/-1/-1/1/UPDATED-PHYSICAL-CONTROL-MEASURES-FOR-PRESS-MEDIA-ACCESS-WITHIN-THE-PENTAGON.PDF\"> memo</a> issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth already mandated that journalists have official approval and escorts from the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs to enter building areas once freely accessible to credentialed reporters.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"May 26\" name=\"May 26\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"2y7xj\">May 26, 2025 | Defense Department attempts to bar CNN reporter from foreign trip</h4><p data-block-key=\"3ccj7\">The Pentagon attempted to bar CNN national security reporter Haley Britzky from traveling as the designated television pool journalist during Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s trip to Singapore, Status <a href=\"https://www.status.news/p/pete-hegseth-pentagon-press-access?utm_source=www.status.news&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=hegseth-s-safe-space&_bhlid=8583a82fd7bcd379f720c4d09a22a59a6348c18a\">reported</a> on May 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"91gov\">“Pentagon officials—apparently irked by some of her tweets, despite their innocuous nature—relayed to CNN brass that she was not welcome,” Oliver Darcy wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"fh3o\">On May 24, Britzky highlighted her Signal username in a post on the social platform X amid the Department of Defense’s efforts to crack down on leaks, including by <a href=\"/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-restricts-journalists-access-inside-pentagon/\">limiting press access</a> to areas of the Pentagon.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vnlm\">Arthur Schwartz, one of Hegseth’s closest advisers, <a href=\"https://x.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1926304038817013807\">reposted</a> Britzky, adding, “Any reporters that are encouraging DoD employees to bypass DoD Public Affairs and violate the terms of their employment with the government should be permanently banned from the Pentagon. Start with this one.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Any reporters that are encouraging DoD employees to bypass DoD Public Affairs and violate their terms of their employment with the government should be permanently banned from the Pentagon. Start with this one. <a href=\"https://t.co/aFvzPcufyw\">https://t.co/aFvzPcufyw</a></p>— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1926304038817013807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 24, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2y7xj\">Status reported that the move to exclude Britzky from Hegseth’s Singapore trip triggered an immediate backlash: Multiple other outlets indicated that if she was excluded they would boycott the trip.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qect\">“They don’t get to decide who covers them,” one correspondent told Status.</p><p data-block-key=\"7839n\">The Pentagon relented, and Britzky <a href=\"https://x.com/halbritz/status/1928406436192620655\">traveled</a> with Hegseth as originally planned.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"March 21\" name=\"March 21\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"yzj9y\">March 21, 2025 | Defense Department announces investigation into media leaks</h4><p data-block-key=\"bnd2m\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office sent a <a href=\"https://media.defense.gov/2025/Mar/21/2003674265/-1/-1/0/EFFORTS-TO-COMBAT-UNAUTHORIZED-DISCLOSURES-OSD002809-25-RES-FINAL.PDF\">memo</a> on March 21, 2025, initiating an investigation into “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6s70m\">“This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense,” wrote Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff. “I expect to be informed immediately if this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such information will be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution.”</p><p data-block-key=\"76lla\">The memo also noted that department employees will be subject to polygraph exams “in accordance with applicable law and policy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ebe2s\">The memo came hours after Elon Musk, head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, <a href=\"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1902977556329931052\">posted on social media</a> calling The New York Times’ reporting on the planned content of his briefing at the Pentagon “pure propaganda.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cjh0\">“I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,” Musk wrote. “They will be found.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e5n7v\">Musk’s meeting with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ultimately did not take place, Reuters <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musk-calls-prosecutions-pentagon-staff-who-leaked-new-york-times-2025-03-21/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ceird\">A Times spokesperson told Reuters that leak investigations are “meant to chill communications between journalists and their sources and undermine the ability of a free press to bring out vital information that may otherwise be hidden.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-03-21T163635Z_985503578_RC2S.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"of4rh\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on as President Donald Trump (not pictured) delivers remarks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2025.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media",
"The New York Times"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Haley Britzky (CNN)"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist hit in face while covering Oregon ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-in-face-while-covering-oregon-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-09T20:42:23.518320Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-09T20:42:23.518320Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-09T20:42:23.307959Z",
"date": "2025-09-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hvj16\">Katie Daviscourt, a reporter for the conservative news site The Post Millennial, had her eye blackened by a person swinging a flagpole during a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 30, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2676i\">In a video Daviscourt posted to the social platform X, a woman is seen waving a flagpole at the protest, apparently saying Daviscourt’s name as she accuses her of being at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. An impact is heard in the video, followed by a voice exclaiming, "She just hit me in the face! Oh my God!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Breaking: I just got assaulted by an Antifa agitator outside the ICE facility in Portland.<br><br>The suspect walked up to me and hit me in the face with her flag pole, swinging it like a baseball bat. <a href=\"https://t.co/BFi39Ym8R6\">pic.twitter.com/BFi39Ym8R6</a></p>— Katie Daviscourt 📸 (@KatieDaviscourt) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KatieDaviscourt/status/1973241441834115509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hvj16\">Daviscourt, <a href=\"https://x.com/KatieDaviscourt/status/1975306746416730502\">who posted on X</a> that she is a full-time reporter who has been covering ICE activity in Portland for the past several months, did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4c5rk\">The day after the incident, Daviscourt <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6380634589112\">appeared on Fox News</a> with a visible black eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"ah89q\">She criticized the Portland Police Bureau’s response to her reported attack and demanded the resignation of Chief Bob Day, stating she immediately sought help from nearby police and chased the suspect for more than half an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"85j9i\">According to a bureau <a href=\"https://www.portland.gov/police/news/2025/10/1/ppb-needs-publics-help-identifying-assault-suspect\">press release</a>, a “dialogue liaison” officer, who cannot take enforcement action, was flagged down after an assault was reported Sept. 30. When he tried to detain the suspect, she fled.</p><p data-block-key=\"a90uj\">Daviscourt was not named in the release, but police shared photos of the suspect and asked the public for help identifying her. The person with the flagpole in Daviscourt’s video matches the suspect in those photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"d91dv\">In a statement to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/10/conservative-media-personality-reports-assault-at-portland-protest-slams-police-as-antifa.html\">The Oregonian</a> newspaper, a spokesperson for the Police Bureau said it would enforce the law at protests: “Free speech and gathering is lawful and protected by the Constitution, no matter the content of what’s being said. But criminal activity is not free speech, and the Portland Police Bureau is committed to addressing criminal behavior.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xq641\">Katie Daviscourt, second from left, speaks to Fox News host Jesse Watters on Oct. 1, 2025, about her reported assault the day before, while covering an anti-deportation protest in Portland, Oregon.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Katie Daviscourt (The Post Millennial)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Turkish journalist hospitalized after assault at NYC immigration court",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/turkish-journalist-hospitalized-after-assault-at-nyc-immigration-court/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-30T19:58:18.550020Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-02T16:09:55.707859Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-02T15:58:46.933044Z",
"date": "2025-09-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6pkd5\">L. Vural Elibol, chief videographer for Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, was knocked to the ground by federal officers while reporting at the immigration court in New York, New York, on Sept. 30, 2025. He struck his head and was later hospitalized.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhilm\">Multiple journalists have reported <a href=\"https://x.com/arya_sundaram/status/1928105201392632061\">access issues</a>, <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/police-fire/more-immigrants-arrested-ice-lower-manhattan-06262025/?ref=hellgatenyc.com\">intimidation</a> and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DOehXSpjuTI/?hl=en\">threats</a> when covering the court at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been arresting asylum-seekers following their hearings there since May, part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"4bdeb\">Previously, on Sept. 18, independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-by-officer-barring-lawmakers-from-nyc-immigration-facility/\">Michael Nigro</a> was assaulted by a man he identified as a plainclothes ICE officer while reporting on a lawmaker-led protest at the court.</p><p data-block-key=\"1g8ja\"><a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPO4gdLDrzH/?igsh=c3ppcjdiaHZ0cHJ0\">Footage</a> of the Sept. 30 incident, captured by a fellow journalist, shows masked federal officers pulling amNewYork’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-by-federal-officers-outside-immigration-court-in-nyc/\">Dean Moses</a> out of a public elevator while shouting at him, “Get out of the fucking elevator!”</p><p data-block-key=\"e27rs\">Another officer standing outside the elevator doors can be seen shoving freelance photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyc-photojournalist-shoved-to-ground-by-federal-officers-at-immigration-court/\">Olga Fedorova</a> back, causing her to go crashing to the hallway floor, landing atop Elibol.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Footage taken by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Steffikeith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Steffikeith</a> this morning of ICE agents shoving photographers on assignment at 26 Federal Plaza. One journalist has been hospitalized. <a href=\"https://t.co/sOo6XAMWJP\">pic.twitter.com/sOo6XAMWJP</a></p>— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/molcranenewman/status/1973061570407051644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6pkd5\">Elibol is then seen on the floor in pain before emergency medical services arrive, place him in a neck brace and onto a stretcher. The photojournalist, who did not respond to a request for comment, <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/new-york-governor-criticizes-ice-officers-who-she-says-shoved-injured-2025-10-01/\">told Reuters</a>, “I was trying to get the video and someone yanked me and threw me to the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"egigm\">A photographer for the wire service captured the moment Elibol started falling backward, showing multiple federal officers standing in front of Elibol and looking toward the elevator.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8n6g\">Elibol said that he hurt his back and head and was taken to the hospital. He added that after he was examined, he was discharged with pain medicine.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcec5\">Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfo1o\">City Comptroller Brad Lander quickly condemned the assault, <a href=\"https://x.com/bradlander/status/1973052678767776229\">writing</a> on the social platform X, “Another violent attack by an ICE officer on a civilian at 26 Federal Plaza—this time on a journalist, who had to be carried out on stretcher.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ndt6\">“Another attack on the First Amendment, our neighbors, and our democracy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a2e1e\">The National Press Photographers Association condemned the assaults as “a blatant attack on press freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bv626\">“ICE must be held accountable for violating its own policy and for trampling on the First Amendment rights of these photographers,” said NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher. “Anything less sends a chilling message to journalists everywhere.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aknft\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include additional details from L. Vural Elibol and comment from the National Press Photographers Association</i>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1atae\">Bystanders assist journalist L. Vural Elibol, chief videographer for Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, as he lies on the floor after being shoved by federal officers while covering detentions in New York City’s immigration court on Sept. 30, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "New York",
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"tags": [
"ICE",
"immigration"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"L. Vural Elibol (Anadolu Agency [Turkey])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NYC photojournalist shoved to ground by federal officers at immigration court",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyc-photojournalist-shoved-to-ground-by-federal-officers-at-immigration-court/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-30T20:29:15.821232Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-02T16:16:44.989630Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-02T16:16:44.803280Z",
"date": "2025-09-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gaq8u\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the ground by federal officers while on assignment for The Associated Press at the immigration court in New York, New York, on Sept. 30, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lg43\">Multiple journalists have reported <a href=\"https://x.com/arya_sundaram/status/1928105201392632061\">access issues</a>, <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/police-fire/more-immigrants-arrested-ice-lower-manhattan-06262025/?ref=hellgatenyc.com\">intimidation</a> and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DOehXSpjuTI/?hl=en\">threats</a> when covering the court at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been arresting asylum-seekers following their hearings there since May, part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"et5on\">Previously, on Sept. 18, independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-by-officer-barring-lawmakers-from-nyc-immigration-facility/\">Michael Nigro</a> was assaulted by a man he identified as a plainclothes ICE officer while reporting on a lawmaker-led protest at the court.</p><p data-block-key=\"aidbq\"><a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPO4gdLDrzH/?igsh=c3ppcjdiaHZ0cHJ0\">Footage</a> of the Sept. 30 incident, captured by a fellow journalist, shows masked federal officers grabbing, pushing and pulling amNewYork’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-by-federal-officers-outside-immigration-court-in-nyc/\">Dean Moses</a> out of a public elevator while shouting at him, “Get out of the fucking elevator!”</p><p data-block-key=\"hlgp\">Another officer standing outside the elevator doors can be seen shoving Fedorova back, causing her to go crashing to the hallway floor atop Anadolu Agency videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/turkish-journalist-hospitalized-after-assault-at-nyc-immigration-court/\">L. Vural Elibol</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Footage taken by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Steffikeith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Steffikeith</a> this morning of ICE agents shoving photographers on assignment at 26 Federal Plaza. One journalist has been hospitalized. <a href=\"https://t.co/sOo6XAMWJP\">pic.twitter.com/sOo6XAMWJP</a></p>— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/molcranenewman/status/1973061570407051644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gaq8u\">Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was taking photos of the officers shoving Moses while she backed up to get out of their way.</p><p data-block-key=\"arvsr\">“Then one of them threw me on the ground,” she said. “I got up immediately to keep shooting and only then realized that someone was on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1383h\">She said that she was not injured and that her cameras appeared to be undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"3clvo\">Another journalist at the scene confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Elibol struck his head quite severely and was taken to a hospital for further monitoring and testing. He was later discharged with pain medication.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lsab\">Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fjth\">City Comptroller Brad Lander quickly condemned the assault, <a href=\"https://x.com/bradlander/status/1973052678767776229\">writing</a> on the social platform X, “Another violent attack by an ICE officer on a civilian at 26 Federal Plaza—this time on a journalist, who had to be carried out on stretcher.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ve4c\">“Another attack on the First Amendment, our neighbors, and our democracy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8e4rv\">The National Press Photographers Association condemned the assaults as “a blatant attack on press freedom.”</p><p data-block-key=\"era78\">“ICE must be held accountable for violating its own policy and for trampling on the First Amendment rights of these photographers,” said NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher. “Anything less sends a chilling message to journalists everywhere.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7h1ma\"><i>Editor’s Note: This incident has been updated to include comment from Olga Fedorova and the National Press Photographers Association</i>, <i>and information on L. Vural Elibol.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25273716924096.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"h58c4\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova, on assignment for The Associated Press, captured this image moments after federal officers shoved her and a second journalist to the ground outside New York City’s immigration court on Sept. 30, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"ICE",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Olga Fedorova (The Associated Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter shoved by federal officers outside immigration court in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shoved-by-federal-officers-outside-immigration-court-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-30T20:36:01.973918Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-30T20:36:01.973918Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-30T20:31:12.533198Z",
"date": "2025-09-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pdnid\">Dean Moses, police bureau chief and resident photographer for the daily newspaper amNewYork, was grabbed and shoved by multiple federal officers while reporting at the federal immigration court in New York, New York, on Sept. 30, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5m1oo\">Multiple journalists have reported <a href=\"https://x.com/arya_sundaram/status/1928105201392632061\">access issues</a>, <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/police-fire/more-immigrants-arrested-ice-lower-manhattan-06262025/?ref=hellgatenyc.com\">intimidation</a> and <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DOehXSpjuTI/?hl=en\">threats</a> when covering the court at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been arresting asylum-seekers following their hearings there since May, part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.</p><p data-block-key=\"ff3bf\">Previously, on Sept. 18, independent journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-by-officer-barring-lawmakers-from-nyc-immigration-facility/\">Michael Nigro</a> was assaulted by a man he identified as a plainclothes ICE officer while reporting on a lawmaker-led protest at the court.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rip2\">On Sept. 30, Moses followed officers into a public elevator at around 10:15 a.m. when it appeared they were going to arrest an individual inside, amNewYork <a href=\"https://www.amny.com/immigration/ice-agents-assault-amnewyork-reporter-journalists-09302025/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fe6\">“I walked into the elevator behind them, and they started screaming at me, ‘Get the f–k out,” Moses told the newspaper. “Then they pushed me, grabbed me by my arms, and started pulling me out of the elevator. I tried to hold on, but I got shoved out.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Press were assaulted by ICE inside 26 federal Plaza today.<br><br>Full story: <a href=\"https://t.co/BnYLqpxhf0\">https://t.co/BnYLqpxhf0</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/mMXf7HFTE3\">pic.twitter.com/mMXf7HFTE3</a></p>— Dean_Moses (@Dean_Moses) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Dean_Moses/status/1973064604990210540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pdnid\"><a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPO4gdLDrzH/?igsh=c3ppcjdiaHZ0cHJ0\">Footage</a> captured by a fellow journalist shows masked federal officers pulling Moses from the elevator. Another officer standing outside the elevator doors then shoves freelance photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nyc-photojournalist-shoved-to-ground-by-federal-officers-at-immigration-court/\">Olga Fedorova</a> back, causing her and Anadolu Agency videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/turkish-journalist-hospitalized-after-assault-at-nyc-immigration-court/\">L. Vural Elibol</a> — who was standing behind her — to go crashing to the hallway floor.</p><p data-block-key=\"6i2qt\">Another journalist at the scene confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Elibol struck his head quite severely and was taken to a hospital for further monitoring and testing.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Footage taken by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Steffikeith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Steffikeith</a> this morning of ICE agents shoving photographers on assignment at 26 Federal Plaza. One journalist has been hospitalized. <a href=\"https://t.co/sOo6XAMWJP\">pic.twitter.com/sOo6XAMWJP</a></p>— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/molcranenewman/status/1973061570407051644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pdnid\">Moses, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told amNewYork that tensions have been rising at the courthouse over the last several months.</p><p data-block-key=\"26ri9\">“And it’s not just between ICE and the photographers. It’s between ICE, photographers and other staff members,” he said. “It’s also among the immigrants who go there. It’s reached such a boiling point, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8g0jk\">Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"974jj\">City Comptroller Brad Lander quickly condemned the assault, writing on the social platform X, “Another violent attack by an ICE officer on a civilian at 26 Federal Plaza—this time on a journalist, who had to be carried out on stretcher.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rmnl\">“Another attack on the First Amendment, our neighbors, and our democracy.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25273716221120.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"eact7\">Federal agents push and pull amNewYork police bureau chief and photojournalist Dean Moses from a public elevator outside the immigration court in New York City on Sept. 30, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"ICE",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dean Moses (amNewYork)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chicago TV reporter shot at with pepper ball while driving outside ICE facility",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-tv-reporter-shot-at-with-pepper-ball-while-driving-outside-ice-facility/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-30T12:59:39.337556Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-30T12:59:39.337556Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-29T21:33:02.251342Z",
"date": "2025-09-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1jiz2\">Asal Rezaei, a reporter for Chicago-based WBBM-TV, was shot at with crowd-control munitions and overcome by chemical irritant while driving near a federal immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 28, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"4od6o\">Protesters have been gathering for weeks outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"b49a1\">After federal officers opened fire with crowd-control munitions on those present, including multiple journalists, on Sept. 26, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">sent a letter</a> to DHS accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community.</p><p data-block-key=\"eenkc\">In retaliation, according to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a> from the village, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.” Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>, and later arresting one reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ldvr\">WBBM-TV <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/feds-fire-pepper-ball-at-cbs-chicago-reporters-truck/\">reported</a> that when Rezaei drove up to the facility in the late morning of Sept. 28, there were no protests going on. She was alone in her car and turning the vehicle around when a federal officer shot at her with a pepper ball from approximately 50 feet away.</p><p data-block-key=\"1edq5\">“An ICE agent that was masked pointed his weapon and shot directly at my car. He saw that my window was open,” Rezaei said. “I was sitting right there with my window open. A lot of it went inside of my car and on my face. I immediately felt it burning, and I started throwing up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4bp0h\">The station reported that many staff reporters, photojournalists and others have been assigned to drive past the facility to monitor for protests and other newsworthy activity.</p><p data-block-key=\"90sso\">Rezaei filed a police report, saying in part that it was unclear why the officer shot at her and noting that, while she did not identify herself verbally as a member of the press, her car has been at the facility multiple times.</p><p data-block-key=\"4s5pl\">In a statement shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills said that the department has launched an investigation into the incident, describing it as “an allegedly unprovoked attack.” He added that the police department expects the full cooperation of the Department of Homeland Security in the investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv123\">DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"79ujk\">“The scariest part about this is I could have been anybody, and I could have been killed,” Rezaei said. “I was driving my vehicle; it was moving when they shot directly at my car.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Rezaei_IL_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"booj7\">WBBM-TV reporter Asal Rezaei was shot at with a pepper ball by federal officers while driving near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 28, 2025. Local police have opened an investigation into the incident.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Asal Rezaei (WBBM-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "TV photographer shot with crowd-control munitions at Illinois protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photographer-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-at-illinois-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-10T21:51:04.836682Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-10T21:51:04.836682Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-10T21:48:50.288585Z",
"date": "2025-09-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y8ogt\">Jeff Freeman, a photojournalist for WLS-TV, was shot with pepper balls while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"stdn\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security following the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-26&date_upper=2025-09-26&city=Broadview\">aggressive response</a> to protests the previous day, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dvkce\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u0e0\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"99uda\">A WLS-TV news crew was among the journalists covering the protests when federal officers delivered on their warning.</p><p data-block-key=\"dorv7\">“Well, this was the most intense escalation between protesters and federal agents that we’ve seen at this Broadview ICE facility since it opened up,” journalist Maher Kawash <a href=\"https://abc7chicago.com/post/broadview-ice-protest-chicago-immigration-operation-midway-blitz-expected-standoff-between-agents-demonstrators/17892592/\">reported</a>. “Protesters were up there on that metal fence, doing their thing, chanting. Some of them were tapping on that fence when suddenly it opened up. Guards said something to the protesters before tossing out several canisters of tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"a20dv\">“That is when they ran down the street, all of the protesters as the guards followed them,” Kawash continued. He added that the officers continued to shoot pepper balls at the retreating crowd, some of which hit Freeman.</p><p data-block-key=\"7oo6b\">Freeman did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7d5c\">ICE did not respond to requests for comment, but U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino <a href=\"https://x.com/CMDROpAtLargeCA/status/1972733132295283050\">posted a video package</a> of the Sept. 27 protest response on the social platform X two days later, set to Duckwrth and Shaboozey’s song “Start a Riot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b31h\">“Wave your signs, chant your slogans, hurl your verbal insults, and exercise your First Amendment rights— we’ll protect that,” Bovino wrote. “Lay a finger on our agents, impede our mission, endanger those in our custody and we have a front row seat for you to our justice system.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ICE_Broadview-15.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"y8rsk\">Federal officers respond to protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025. WLS-TV photojournalist Jeff Freeman was shot with pepper balls when they advanced on the crowd.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jeff Freeman (WLS-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist loses camera lens while covering Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-loses-camera-lens-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T13:32:24.985550Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T18:47:17.593730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-03T18:47:17.496673Z",
"date": "2025-09-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xp99j\">Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he lost a telephoto camera lens while reporting on a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k4oe\">Stegenga, co-founder of the independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering one of a series of demonstrations outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgt9o\">He parked his van close to the ICE facility, near a fence that Stegenga said had been erected as part of a security perimeter. He stored some of his gear by the van, including the now-missing lens. As federal agents opened the barricades and repeatedly pushed crowds back, Stegenga was forced to leave the area. He was later escorted back to his van.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3ouo\">By that time, the lens was gone, he told the Tracker. “It’s unclear how or when. I have no intel or possibility of motive. I just know that my telephoto lens disappeared.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9v9pj\">The loss of the lens, too costly for him to replace now, has impacted Stegenga’s ability to report, observe and document from a safe distance.</p><p data-block-key=\"c2r3h\">“The range of what I can see and document as a journalist and to bear witness to is definitely limited,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6st6g\">Stegenga said during the protest, he was also hit by a barrage of chemical irritants that got under his mask, burning his eyes and face so badly he needed help to rinse them off.</p><p data-block-key=\"euqgm\">In addition, the day before, while clearly marked as a journalist, he was struck by federal agents firing a series of pepper balls — once <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">amid the chaos of the protest</a> and again <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/\">while standing well away from protesters.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"e9d8c\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c1ldj\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5q23a\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8f36m\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"29n83\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-10-01_at_5.36.45P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mvyok\">Federal agents amid tear gas at a protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025. Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he lost a telephoto camera lens during the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "unknown",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jon Stegenga (Humanizing Through Story)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck by projectiles, tear-gassed at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-by-projectiles-tear-gassed-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-06T20:17:13.159988Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-06T20:17:13.159988Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-06T20:15:55.749797Z",
"date": "2025-09-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qow1i\">A Chicago Sun-Times reporter was struck with projectiles fired by federal agents and tear-gassed while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"40v3\">The incident happened during one of a series of demonstrations held outside the facility where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"2v00p\">It’s unclear whether the journalist was targeted, according to information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by the Chicago News Guild. The journalist is not being named due to safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"eufrd\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eg3b8\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8takb\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"720hs\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"703cj\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-10-03_at_1.40.22P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yjl59\">Federal agents at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025. A Chicago Sun-Times reporter was struck with projectiles while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified reporter 9 (Chicago Sun-Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist tackled, arrested by federal agents at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T18:44:08.722368Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-10T17:15:52.602962Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-10T17:15:52.508407Z",
"date": "2025-09-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bxf4h\">Journalist Steve Held was arrested by federal officers while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"du3g8\">Held, co-founder and reporter for the investigative outlet Unraveled Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators had gathered for weeks outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"424fg\">Held arrived shortly before 6 p.m. and saw a few dozen federal agents repeatedly clearing protesters from outside the facility, which was now walled off by a new fence blocking public access. Officers warned protesters to clear the road or face arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"7i3jl\">With limited space to stand, protesters and journalists scattered onto narrow grassy areas to avoid being in the road, Held said.</p><p data-block-key=\"13f00\">About an hour later, during another sweep of the road, the situation grew more chaotic as agents became more aggressive, shoving protesters and seizing items from them. As tensions escalated, Held stepped back and stood on the roadside grass to film on his cellphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"6puja\">He had just recorded someone else’s arrest when a group of agents began moving quickly in his direction, appearing to pursue someone behind him. They passed in front of him, then circled behind, shouting “Get back!” As he tried to step aside, Held was suddenly tackled by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and handcuffed.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecluj\">“They didn’t really care that I was a journalist, or didn’t care that they had left me no actual way out, or even an instant to think about how to get out,” Held said. “He basically just said I didn’t move fast enough for his liking, even though it was like a second, and he was taking me in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a97nu\">Held said he was wearing a white helmet and backpack with press markings, as well as media credentials issued by the Chicago Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8hmv\">After his arrest, he was brought inside the ICE facility, where he was fingerprinted, photographed and held for more than six hours without being allowed to make a phone call.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l24u\">No charges were filed, and his cellphone and other belongings were returned to him when he was released.</p><p data-block-key=\"eaqo0\">Held said the arrest left him with a headache, and a stiff neck and back.</p><p data-block-key=\"dqn9i\">“It kind of just feels like I was in a mild car accident,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5q7ti\">Held said the arrest removed him from covering the protests that night and disrupted the work of his colleagues, who were making phone calls and contacting lawyers on his behalf. He and his colleagues had been going out there nearly every day for weeks, but haven’t been back since.</p><p data-block-key=\"5oh4n\">“It’s not going to deter me from going out there,” he said. “It’s going to make me probably think a little more about situational awareness and exits, and probably not getting quite as close to the fray as I was.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7vbse\">This wasn’t the first time Held or Unraveled Press staff faced violence while covering the mass protests outside the facility. On Sept. 19, Held was <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-grabbed-hit-with-pepper-ball-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">grabbed by one federal officer</a>, and another shot a pepper ball at his groin. And on Sept. 26, Unraveled co-founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-the-face-with-pepper-ball-at-illinois-ice-facility-protest/\">Raven Geary was shot in the face with a pepper ball</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"18be\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6o95g\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aoojp\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"282bj\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"duurm\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Steve_Held_image.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2j0rj\">Steve Held, a journalist with Unraveled Press, at center, is taken into custody while reporting on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2025-09-28",
"detention_date": "2025-09-27",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "1:25-cv-12173",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-10-09 21:06:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win temporary restraining order against federal government",
"(2025-10-06 20:59:00+00:00) Chicago journalists sue over violent federal response to Illinois protests"
],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steve Held (Unraveled Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer shot with pepper balls at Illinois ICE facility, camera damaged",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-ice-facility-camera-damaged/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T13:20:13.431881Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T13:20:13.431881Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-03T13:17:24.723228Z",
"date": "2025-09-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e703t\">Freelance photojournalist Dave Decker was shot in the lower legs with pepper balls by federal officers and one of his camera lenses damaged while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"58b85\">Decker told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Zuma Press to cover protests at the facility, where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation. While covering protests the day before, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-repeatedly-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/\">shot with pepper balls</a> at least four times.</p><p data-block-key=\"8thop\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security following the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-26&date_upper=2025-09-26&city=Broadview\">aggressive response</a> to that protest, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cpicj\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eifj\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f5d3v\">Decker told the Tracker he was covering protests again Sept. 27 and said the federal officers were especially aggressive. But he added that he felt targeted by the officers both days.</p><p data-block-key=\"1r3g9\">As officers advanced from a fenced entrance to the facility and into the assembled demonstration, Decker said they were aggressive: shoving people, throwing them to the ground and firing crowd-control munitions at anyone stepping into the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"4juid\">Decker, referring to a <a href=\"https://x.com/FordFischer/status/1972089649788342519\">livestream</a> broadcast by News2Share founder Ford Fischer, said, “Ford has it on video where they just pointed to me and said, ‘Get him.’ And they peppered my legs, just shot me, because I had my foot sitting off a curb.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3rg3o\">At 1:52 in the footage, a group of journalists can be seen filming from between two vehicles as federal officers advance through the street. One of the officers is then seen pointing to one of the journalists, and another officer then fires at least two pepper balls at the journalist, confirmed to be Decker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Live: Anti-ICE protesters outside Broadview, IL ICE facility <a href=\"https://t.co/YMAHuHlMl6\">https://t.co/YMAHuHlMl6</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1972089649788342519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 28, 2025</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e703t\">Decker is then seen retreating from the street before resuming his coverage. He added that he was also shoved by an officer later that night, and has six welts all over his body from being shot both days.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mhgv\">He told the Tracker that at some point, a pepper ball also directly struck his camera, leaving a “massive imprint” on the lens and damaging one of the switches on it. “So I may have caught a stray pepper ball or they just aimed for my camera,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8iah\">The strangest thing for him, Decker said, was individuals in DHS uniforms on the roof with cameras, filming as U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino walked detainees in and out of the processing facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck16c\">“I think the whole point of that weekend — and why they went so hard on Saturday — is because they were doing a hype video, a recruitment video,” Decker speculated. “I feel like they’ve lowered the standards that they want for use of force based on the entertainment value they can add to the content they’re trying to create. And they just trolled the protest folks to get them close enough so that they could have their ‘shit show.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"7k8p0\">ICE did not respond to requests for comment. Bovino <a href=\"https://x.com/CMDROpAtLargeCA/status/1972733132295283050\">posted a video package</a> of the Sept. 27 protest response on the social platform X two days later, set to Duckwrth and Shaboozey’s song “Start a Riot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"73ie3\">“Wave your signs, chant your slogans, hurl your verbal insults, and exercise your First Amendment rights— we’ll protect that,” Bovino wrote. “Lay a finger on our agents, impede our mission, endanger those in our custody and we have a front row seat for you to our justice system.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/ICE_Broadview-12.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"amaoi\">Photojournalist Dave Decker was shot with multiple pepper balls and his camera damaged while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, seen above, in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Dave Decker (Zuma Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot with pepper balls, threatened at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-threatened-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-06T17:40:34.258969Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-06T17:40:34.258969Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-06T17:39:18.904105Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vmdfj\">An unidentified photojournalist with the Chicago Sun-Times was struck in the legs with pepper balls after being threatened earlier by federal agents with a baton-round launch and a Taser, all while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1935f\">The incident, which appeared to be targeted, occurred during one of a series of demonstrations held outside the facility where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation, according to information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by the Chicago News Guild. The journalist is not being named due to safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"buuvk\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7t9tf\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3gf0t\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9nuij\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aks2i\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8pdnf\">Federal agents at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. A Chicago Sun-Times photographer was struck with pepper balls and threatened by agents while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Unidentified photojournalist 42 (Chicago Sun-Times)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shot in head, face with pepper balls at Illinois immigration facility",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-head-face-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-02T16:20:50.219199Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-09T13:48:33.723069Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-09T13:48:33.596241Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3g8nm\">Independent journalist Leigh Kunkel was shot with crowd-control munitions in the face and back of the head by federal officers while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bllh\">Kunkel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that protests aren’t her regular beat, but she decided to go by after hearing about demonstrations that had been taking place outside the facility, where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct8a6\">“People were standing around the fence and — I cannot express strongly enough — doing literally nothing. Just standing there. There wasn’t even chanting going on,” Kunkel said. “It started with this guy on the roof just sniping people with pepper balls.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5jas1\">Kunkel, who was not struck in the initial volley, said that while she hadn’t been planning to document the protest, “Once things started going a little sideways, the whole journalism thing just kicked in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bmutg\">She told the Tracker that she eventually went around to the other side of the facility, where several journalists had gathered in an informal gaggle.</p><p data-block-key=\"1egbp\">“A man came out and said, ‘Hey, we’re not ICE. We need to move our trucks or our cars out this way.’ And everyone says OK, and so the crowd parted to let them through,” Kunkel said. “But when they did that, the gates had to open, so these ICE agents came out with this convoy of non-ICE trucks and just started shooting at people with pepper balls.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3qa8p\">Kunkel and a second journalist, photojournalist Dave Decker, had taken cover behind a van when she said she heard someone shout something about an ambush.</p><p data-block-key=\"891h\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lzqmyodenc2w\">footage of the incident</a>, a group of journalists can be seen documenting officers approximately 50 feet away when suddenly pepper balls start exploding near them, shot from behind. Kunkel and Decker can be seen crouching behind the van 16 seconds into the clip.</p><p data-block-key=\"2h29v\">“I felt something hit the back of my head, and a pepper ball had hit me from behind,” Kunkel told the Tracker. “I crouched down, and I was just patting the back of my head to see if I was OK. Then I heard someone yell again, and all of a sudden I got hit in the face and my nose was bleeding.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f3s2r\">Decker, who was also <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-repeatedly-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/\">struck with multiple pepper balls</a> during that volley, told the Tracker that he looked down and saw blood gushing from Kunkel’s nose.</p><p data-block-key=\"78js\">“You can’t really tell what’s going on in that situation. I just looked at her and she was in shock from getting shot in the face, and I just grabbed her,” Decker said. “I stopped being a photographer and I just grabbed her, put my arm around her, turned around and ran.”</p><p data-block-key=\"53v7o\">After quickly documenting her injuries, Decker brought her to a medic at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"8evk8\">Kunkel said that the respirator she was wearing took the brunt of the blow.</p><p data-block-key=\"eiqdn\">“A bunch of people got it on film,” Kunkel said of the incident, “and you can very clearly see these agents aiming directly at us and then directly at me while I’m on the ground touching my head.</p><p data-block-key=\"7scea\">“It was wild. It’s hard to describe how strange it was and how clearly eager they were to enact violence on everybody there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dhqm8\">ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “Shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d96fr\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"719nu\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8ahu\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5undl\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>, and later <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">arrested a reporter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"en4dt\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5j0uj\">On Oct. 6, Kunkel joined a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:25-cv-12173\">federal lawsuit</a> brought by a group of journalists, press organizations, newsrooms, ministers and protesters against President Donald Trump and various federal agencies. The suit requested an emergency <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/21/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/\">temporary restraining order</a> that would impose restrictions on the defendants’ use of physical force and crowd-control munitions. </p><p data-block-key=\"26ivi\">While Kunkel was listed among the plaintiffs as a protester, she reaffirmed to the Tracker that her activities at the Sept. 26 demonstration were journalistic and that the decision to describe her otherwise was made by her attorneys in the case. </p><p data-block-key=\"dslta\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details about a federal lawsuit filed against President Donald Trump and various federal agencies.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g4mgh\">Journalist Leigh Kunkel is treated by a medic after federal officers shot her in the face and back of the head with pepper balls outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "Illinois",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Photojournalist hit with pepper balls, tear gas at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-03T13:36:07.864970Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T18:46:53.262092Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-03T18:46:53.166152Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x166c\">Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he was struck in the arms and chest by crowd-control munitions and overwhelmed by chemical irritants while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t4c4\">Stegenga, co-founder of the independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a tense standoff between federal agents and demonstrators when a group of officers came out of the facility and began firing what he described as propellants of all types toward the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"360lb\">“I got hit several times,” Stegenga said, adding that tear gas and flash bangs were also deployed. At one point, officers fired multiple rounds of tear gas behind a vehicle where press and legal observers had gathered.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck8l7\">“They were very, kind of just firing everywhere,” said Stegenga, who added that he was unsure if he was targeted by the officers who fired the munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"111rr\">Stegenga said federal agents fired tear gas canisters that shattered glass and went inside nearby businesses. He also witnessed and photographed another journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-head-face-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/\">Leigh Kunkel</a>, get shot in the face with a pepper ball.</p><p data-block-key=\"24ckp\">Stegenga said he was wearing clothing and a badge that clearly identified him as press, and he carried camera equipment throughout the protest. The physical toll of the chemical irritants — which got into his eyes, lungs and mouth, and caused several minutes of coughing and gagging — affected his ability to work.</p><p data-block-key=\"8q9in\">“It limits me how I could document what was unfolding around me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c11ou\">Later that day, a federal agent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/\">shot pepper balls</a> directly at him. While covering a similar protest outside the facility the next day, Stegenga <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-loses-camera-lens-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/\">lost a telephoto lens</a> that he stored near his van by a security barricade. He told the Tracker the gear was missing when he returned after being forced away by federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"eik5n\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on the same day, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ev1v5\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"594s8\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7altd\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ft51l\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"e6ohu\">A federal agent deploys a crowd-control munition at a protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he was struck by pepper balls while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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"name": "Illinois",
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"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shot repeatedly with pepper balls at Illinois immigration facility",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-repeatedly-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-02T16:58:14.626531Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T19:59:52.552560Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-03T19:59:52.451587Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jk9zx\">Freelance photojournalist Dave Decker was shot multiple times with pepper balls by federal officers while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"2o3ti\">Decker told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Zuma Press to cover protests at the facility, where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"kvc1\">He said some demonstrators arranged a walking protest akin to a picket line in front of one entrance, while others were standing near another entrance, exchanging insults with the federal officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgkq9\">“Suddenly the agents just came out and started shooting again, because they wanted people — I guess — to leave the parking lot,” Decker said.</p><p data-block-key=\"57sfa\">He and a second journalist, Leigh Kunkel, took cover behind a van to document from relative safety, as officers shot crowd-control munitions at the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ch75\">In <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lzqmyodenc2w\">footage of the incident</a>, a group of journalists can be seen documenting officers approximately 50 feet away when suddenly pepper balls start exploding near them, shot from behind. Kunkel and Decker can be seen crouching behind the van 16 seconds into the clip.</p><p data-block-key=\"5u99f\">“They’re shooting from the north, and we’re on the south side of this van,” Decker said. “Suddenly, I felt something really painful hit the back of my arm coming from the east, and it burned.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9sf23\">When he looked down, he saw that Kunkel’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-head-face-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility\">nose was bleeding</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6thf\">“Then I felt another one zoom by my head,” Decker continued. “And they basically just sprayed us with those pepper balls, which are the size of a marble, they’re pretty big, and they hurt like heck.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7v9ie\">Decker said he quickly wrapped an arm around Kunkel, turned around and ran from the officers. After quickly documenting her injuries, he brought her to a medic at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfsj9\">“It’s so crazy that somebody would see people with cameras and stuff and just go and do that at a really close distance,” Decker said. “They had seen me previously, saw I had cameras and credentials and all that kind of stuff.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nkr7\">“I felt extremely targeted,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7fo6\">After he resumed covering the protest and the federal officers’ response, Decker said he was struck with pepper balls at least three more times. “That’s just how this job is. You’re going to try to document what they’re doing, and you just take that chance,” he observed.</p><p data-block-key=\"6govo\">ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ioqd\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fheur\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b10df\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"80vub\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shot-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-ice-facility-camera-damaged/\">including Decker</a> — and later <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">arrested a reporter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"44jfe\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tr5b8\">Photojournalist Dave Decker, center right, helps reporter Leigh Kunkel to safety after both were barraged with pepper balls outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"chemical irritant",
"ICE",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Dave Decker (Zuma Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with projectiles, pepper ball at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-projectiles-pepper-ball-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-06T19:39:11.825116Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-06T19:39:11.825116Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-06T19:39:11.623501Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r028z\">An unidentified photojournalist with the Chicago Sun-Times was hit six times with projectiles, including once with a pepper ball, while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"aim2m\">The journalist was also exposed to tear gas and other crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents, including flash-bang grenades, stinger grenades and baton rounds, during one of a series of demonstrations held outside the facility where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"ca39e\">It’s unclear whether the incident was targeted, according to information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by the Chicago News Guild. The journalist is not being named due to safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"e4kjb\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f71df\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"farlt\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"55pq4\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"81cga\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xoauu\">A demonstrator amid tear gas at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. A Chicago Sun-Times photographer was struck by projectiles while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
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},
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"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 43 (Chicago Sun-Times)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chicago journalist shot with crowd-control munition by federal officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-journalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munition-by-federal-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-09T19:41:06.148568Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-09T19:41:06.148568Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-09T19:23:58.290369Z",
"date": "2025-09-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xeu3i\">Shawn Mulcahy, news editor for the Chicago Reader, was shot with a crowd-control munition by federal officers while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5aqtt\">An array of Chicago-area journalists and others <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=asc#entry-21\">sued</a> President Donald Trump and various federal agencies on Oct. 6 over the violent response by federal law enforcement to ongoing anti-deportation protests outside the ICE facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e9gm\">In a declaration filed in support of the plaintiffs’ <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571.21.0.pdf\">request</a> for a temporary restraining order, Mulcahy wrote that he has been regularly attending protests at the facility since Sept. 5, and is always identifiable as press: wearing press credentials around his neck and a helmet marked “PRESS,” as well as carrying a notepad or filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l25a\">On Sept. 26, Mulcahy wrote that he was standing on a street near the facility filming an arrest when he was shot with what he believes was a “rubber bullet or foam ball.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7jkl2\">“I was clearly engaged in news-gathering activity and was targeted for this action,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"7f1pd\">Mulcahy, who was not immediately available for comment, added that that was not the only time he or other members of the press were deliberately targeted by the federal officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"989er\">“That same Friday morning, I was part of a large group of press standing apart from the protestors on what I believe is a public street. We were clearly identifiable as journalists,” he wrote. “Federal law enforcement threw tear gas directly at us, and another agent began shooting pepper balls directly at us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2tfiu\">He said that ICE’s use of violent tactics has escalated over the course of the month, and each time he has returned to the facility, there have been more law enforcement “who appear more agitated and more heavily armed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eag7a\">“I intend to continue reporting at the Broadview facility, but my ability to do so is harder because of the violence directed at me and my colleagues,” Mulcahy wrote. “While I have not been breaking any laws or disobeying any orders from federal officers, I am afraid that I will be targeted, injured, or arrested for continuing to report at Broadview.”</p><p data-block-key=\"o2j\">ICE did not respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"am35d\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6pjk8\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ecfea\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7lm4k\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and later <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">arrested a reporter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"836hg\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Broadview_ICE-14.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zu8yj\">Federal officers fire crowd-control munitions at a protester outside an immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. Shawn Mulcahy of the Chicago Reader was shot with a munition and targeted with chemical irritants that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [
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"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shawn Mulcahy (Chicago Reader)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter struck in hand by pepper ball while filming at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-hand-by-pepper-ball-while-filming-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-07T19:10:28.665908Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-10T17:17:45.558422Z",
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"date": "2025-09-26",
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"city": "Broadview",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qf5a0\">Freelance reporter Charles Thrush was shot in the hand with a pepper ball while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"30olb\">Thrush detailed the incident in <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/22/16/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/\">a sworn declaration</a> filed Oct. 6 as part of a federal lawsuit brought by him, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:25-cv-12173\">other Chicago-area journalists</a> and press groups. The complaint accuses President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, top immigration officials and Attorney General Pam Bondi of unlawful violence against journalists and protesters at the ongoing Broadview demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"r3oo\">Thrush, a 22-year-old journalism student at DePaul University freelancing for the nonprofit news organization Block Club Chicago, said he and other clearly identified members of the press were repeatedly targeted by federal officers using chemical agents and crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j9fo\">"Federal officers shot pepperballs and tear gas at me and other journalists as well as at protesters who seemed to pose no threat,” Thrush wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"adm9r\">In his declaration, Thrush said officers fired on demonstrators and media without warning, often as people were moving away from the facility. While filming from a distance, holding his camera near his face, Thrush was struck in the center of his left hand by a pepper ball fired by an officer who emerged from behind a fence.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gcuh\">“I was not threatening anyone in any way when I was shot,” Thrush wrote. “I had not been given any instructions to move.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j9u0\">Unlike previous protests, no dispersal warnings were issued before force was used, according to the declaration. Thrush said Block Club Chicago photographer Colin Boyle was also hit with a pepper ball, and a tear gas canister was thrown directly at another clearly credentialed photographer from just 15 feet away.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gada\">Thrush reported that the exposure from the pepper ball, as well as tear gas, caused burning on his skin for about 12 hours. Though he had planned to return to report the next day, he ultimately stayed away out of fear.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6l1n\">“I still plan to regularly return to the Broadview facility to continue reporting,” he wrote, “but will only do so if I am able to keep myself safe, which I am not currently certain is possible.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d8bgv\">DHS did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, the agency described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"52b0m\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"74fo9\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bdp9u\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1kk97\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qbt1x\">Crowd-control munitions are deployed at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. Reporter Charles Thrush was struck by a pepper ball while covering the demonstration that day.</p>",
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"(2025-10-09 20:54:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win temporary restraining order against federal government"
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{
"title": "Journalist shot in the face with pepper ball at Illinois ICE facility protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-the-face-with-pepper-ball-at-illinois-ice-facility-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-29T18:19:55.810411Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-10T17:16:20.241172Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nnoue\">Journalist Raven Geary was shot in the face with a pepper ball by federal officers while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"3mhoi\">Geary, co-founder and reporter for the investigative outlet Unraveled Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators had been gathering for weeks outside the facility where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mq9o\">“ICE was very aggressive with protesters and press, and we’ve been seeing an escalation from them significantly over the last few weeks,” she said. “These agents specifically have threatened us as reporters, they’ve tried to intimidate us. And there have been smaller incidents leading up to this over the summer, but nothing like what we saw today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fegpm\">She told the Tracker that detainees had been moved from the facility early the morning of Sept. 26, before any protesters’ arrival, and there was no clear justification for the federal officers’ aggressive tactics.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct4vf\">Journalists had gathered in an informal gaggle away from demonstrators, standing in a parking lot 10-20 yards from the facility, when officers opened fire with crowd-control munitions from the roof and multiple sides of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"3v8be\">“The agents just started firing a ton of pepper ball rounds right at our faces. Another reporter got hit point-blank in the nose,” Geary said, referring to independent journalist Leigh Kunkel. Geary was herself <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3lzqn63al5c2w\">struck in the cheek</a> at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"5oasn\">“To me it felt like a direct attack on reporters,” she continued. “It felt like it happened right as I was raising my lens to try to take a photo of them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96j9c\">Geary told the Tracker she was able to continue reporting for a couple of hours before going to an urgent care clinic to make sure that there were no fractures.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Geary_IL_assault_926_2.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1104\" alt=\"COURTESY RAVEN GEARY\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"cztpm\">Raven Geary shows the degree of swelling in her right cheek hours after she was shot with a pepper ball by federal officers on Sept. 26, 2025.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — COURTESY RAVEN GEARY\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nnoue\">Geary, who has covered demonstrations and law enforcement for years, added that the federal agents appeared to be acting without organization and seemed to be “completely out of control.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6imoe\">“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of organization in their behavior, unlike what we are used to seeing,” she continued. “There’s an informality and a casualness to the violence that just feels super aggressive compared to more typical crowd-control maneuvers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7i8n\">ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mh9u\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ns60\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"240a9\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dceha\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a>, and also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">arrested Geary’s fellow Unraveled Press co-founder, Steve Held</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"h8ud\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a8fut\">Reporter Raven Geary was shot in the face with a pepper ball by federal officers while reporting on anti-deportation protests at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p>",
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"(2025-10-09 17:09:00+00:00) Chicago journalists win temporary restraining order against federal government",
"(2025-10-06 20:54:00+00:00) Chicago journalists sue over violent federal response to Illinois protests"
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{
"title": "Chicago photojournalist shot with pepper balls outside ICE facility",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-outside-ice-facility/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-09T16:43:53.048566Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-10T17:16:47.045511Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wv063\">Colin Boyle, photography director for nonprofit newsroom Block Club Chicago, was shot with pepper balls by federal officers while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"at9fi\">An array of Chicago-area journalists and others — including Block Club — <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559589/chicago-headline-club-v-noem/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=asc#entry-21\">sued</a> President Donald Trump and various federal agencies on Oct. 6 over the violent response by federal law enforcement to ongoing anti-deportation protests outside the ICE facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"ceeli\">In a declaration filed in support of the plaintiffs’ <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571.21.0.pdf\">request</a> for a temporary restraining order, Boyle wrote that he had attended protests at the facility multiple times in September. But, after arriving at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, he wrote that he “witnessed a violent escalation from federal agents unlike any protest I had attended prior.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a7599\">“Throughout the morning, I witnessed agents—including one who stood on the rooftop of the Broadview facility many feet away—fire chemicals and pepper balls indiscriminately and brazenly into the crowd of protesters and press, without warning,” Boyle recounted.</p><p data-block-key=\"am2l8\">He wrote that he stayed near other members of the press, and did his best to ensure that the “PRESS” labels on his backpack and hat were visible. Boyle was also carrying two cameras and wearing press credentials issued by the Chicago Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"3dqvi\">Boyle, who was not immediately available for comment, recounted how he saw multiple members of the press shot with crowd-control munitions and then was himself struck.</p><p data-block-key=\"acltv\">“As I was photographing protesters and federal agents, I was shot in my left leg by pepper ball rounds,” he wrote in his declaration. “Tear gas seeped into my respirator and visor. My eyes watered and I coughed a lot, making it difficult to do my job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9riju\">He added that when he left the protest later in the day, he was forced to drive with the windows down lest he be “engulfed” by the chemical irritant residue still clinging to his clothes.</p><p data-block-key=\"fbk1h\">“I am perturbed by the brazen actions of federal agents and their indiscriminate attacks on journalists, as well as protesters,” Boyle wrote, adding, “I will not stop practicing the First Amendment and partaking in my job as a photojournalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ebm5p\">ICE did not respond to a request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"epqng\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bt3mt\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"66boe\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4htf\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and later <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">arrested a reporter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"20bnh\">“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"da3vm\">In an <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/block-club-chicago-news-organizations-sue-feds-over-first-amendment-violations/\">article</a> announcing the lawsuit, Block Club wrote that it decided to pursue the case after <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Broadview&targeted_institutions=Block+Club+Chicago\">four of its journalists</a> were shot with pepper balls and tear-gassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"1817n\">“We intend to continue to report on the protests, but our ability to do so, to the standards that we hold ourselves to, continues to be impacted by our fears of violence and arrests of our employees and contractors,” said Stephanie Lulay, Block Club executive editor and co-founder. “We’re taking this step to protect our journalists and to assert our First Amendment right to report.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2bf4q\">A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer reloads a crowd-control weapon outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. Block Club Chicago photographer Colin Boyle was shot with pepper balls while covering protests that day.</p>",
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"title": "Reporter hit in foot with pepper ball while covering Illinois ICE protest",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3srm1\">Reporter Amanda Moore was struck with a pepper ball while covering anti-deportation protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"58e0i\">Moore told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she has been reporting independently from the site, where protesters have been gathering for weeks as detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnjb2\">She arrived at 7 a.m. that morning, and tensions between demonstrators and federal agents escalated within the hour, she said, with officers deploying tear gas and crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"rsn9\">Moore said she was attempting to move away from the area when she was <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/noturtlesoup17.bsky.social/post/3lzqsnkct6c2x\">struck in the foot by a pepper ball.</a> She did not see which law enforcement agent fired the round, noting that gas had already clouded much of the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"653br\">She was wearing a lanyard with her name and National Press Club ID during her coverage of the protests, Moore said. Despite being clearly identified as a journalist, she said federal officers repeatedly targeted her and others in the press with force, even as reporters maintained a safe distance to film arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"fboqn\">“It seems like the feds want everything they do to be completely shrouded, completely private,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"86br3\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, the agency described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f837f\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9gtn7\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54uh2\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ac5k4\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p8ul0\">Federal agents outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025. Reporter Amanda Moore was struck by a pepper ball while covering the demonstration the day before.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist targeted with pepper balls while covering Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-02T21:13:30.408474Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-03T18:47:41.829896Z",
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"date": "2025-09-26",
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"city": "Broadview",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d26jv\">Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he was targeted with projectiles fired by a federal officer while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"fl3qu\">Stegenga, co-founder of the independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting one of a series of demonstrations outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddj4m\">At one point, protesters blocked a roadway leading away from the facility. Federal agents in tactical gear then advanced, firing various crowd-control munitions, stopping traffic during a chaotic dispersal.</p><p data-block-key=\"52ut8\">Stegenga found himself standing alone in the middle of the road, clearly marked as press, with visible credentials. As he continued photographing, a federal agent — about four car lengths away — began firing directly at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"5v2cj\">“The agent turned and shot once right below the belt on the upper thigh,” he said. “He turned at other people, and then turned back at me and shot me again, once in the leg and once in the back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9b5ea\">One pepper ball burst on impact, scattering white powder across his shirt.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6ds0\">Though many of the agents wore insignia from ICE, U.S. Border Patrol or other federal units, Stegenga said it was difficult to determine exactly which agency was responsible.</p><p data-block-key=\"pgpm\">He said he later noticed a scratch on one of his camera lenses and that his camera was displaying intermittent error messages, but was unsure what caused the damage or when.</p><p data-block-key=\"fhmm4\">Earlier the same day, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-pepper-balls-tear-gas-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">hit by stray munitions and chemical irritants</a> during broader crowd control actions. He also witnessed and photographed another journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shot-in-head-face-with-pepper-balls-at-illinois-immigration-facility/\">Leigh Kunkel</a>, get shot in the face with a munition.</p><p data-block-key=\"dip2e\">The following day, while covering a similar protest outside the facility, Stegenga <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-loses-camera-lens-while-covering-illinois-ice-protest/\">lost a telephoto lens</a> that he stored near his van by a security barricade. He told the Tracker the gear was missing when he returned after being forced away by federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"2697g\">The experiences prompted Stegenga to invest in better safety gear, but he remains committed to reporting despite the risks.</p><p data-block-key=\"7aucn\">“I’ve tried to let it affect me as little as possible,” he said. “Still showing up, going up to the fence lines, documenting, being in the midst of everything.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3808a\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6hpvi\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5t5uu\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"evtal\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c7g6s\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lvazq\">A Department of Homeland Security officer at a protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025. Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said a federal agent fired pepper balls at him while covering the demonstration.</p>",
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],
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{
"title": "Alaska journalists resign over article edits following lawmaker pressure",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alaska-journalists-resign-over-article-edits-following-lawmaker-pressure/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-15T17:12:52.692205Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-15T17:12:52.692205Z",
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"date": "2025-09-24",
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"city": "Juneau",
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"latitude": 58.30194,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s5h20\">Four journalists at the Homer News, Juneau Empire and Peninsula Clarion newspapers in Alaska have resigned over a decision by the newspapers’ owner to revise a published article about a vigil for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk following pressure from a Republican state lawmaker on Sept. 24, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"8fflb\">Hundreds of people gathered Sept. 17 in the small town of Homer in southern Alaska at a vigil for Kirk, who was shot and killed in Utah on Sept. 10. The <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20250923215416/https://www.homernews.com/news/homer-holds-vigil-for-charlie-kirk-highlights-opening-of-local-turning-point-education-private-school/\">original Homer News article</a> about the vigil identified Kirk as “a far-right political activist and Christian-Nationalist icon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"16l4o\">Rep. Sarah Vance, a Republican state lawmaker from Homer who helped organize the vigil, <a href=\"https://www.ktoo.org/2025/09/29/homer-newspaper-revises-charlie-kirk-memorial-coverage-after-pressure-from-republican-lawmaker/\">criticized</a> the article for what she described as “hate-baiting bias” and called for it to be edited. “If the paper continues to treat community events as opportunities for partisan spin, the consequences will be financial as well as reputational,” she <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26174044-250924-sarah-vancejpg/\">wrote</a> in a Sept. 24 Facebook post.</p><p data-block-key=\"8it3m\">The newspaper’s owner, Carpenter Media Group, later <a href=\"https://alaskabeacon.com/2025/09/30/mass-resignations-at-two-alaska-newspapers-after-out-of-state-owners-bow-to-political-pressure/\">removed</a>, edited and reposted the story, which prompted the four journalists to resign in protest. Carpenter Media owns hundreds of newspapers throughout the United States and Canada.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsg7p\">In their joint <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26174055-peninsula-clarion-and-homer-news-resignation-letter/\">resignation letter</a> Sept. 29, the four journalists said Carpenter Media changed the Kirk article without consulting them. “What we do have a problem with is Carpenter Media management changing a story at the behest of an elected official. We believe this destroys the credibility the public has placed in us as reporters and editors,” the letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2c11f\">The letter continued: “The willingness to acquiesce to a public official’s editorial demands and have conversations with her about the direction of our coverage is a betrayal not just of the journalists who work for Carpenter Media, but of the company’s integrity as a purveyor of news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"16pgj\">The journalists gave two weeks’ notice, according to the letter, but Carpenter Media <a href=\"https://alaskabeacon.com/2025/09/30/mass-resignations-at-two-alaska-newspapers-after-out-of-state-owners-bow-to-political-pressure/\">fired</a> all four immediately, according to local media reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uk7e\">Carpenter Media president Tim Prince told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the company stood by its decision to edit the article because it “fell well short of our standards and those of unbiased community journalism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3s360\">Chloe Pleznac, who wrote the original article and was among those who resigned, <a href=\"https://www.ktoo.org/2025/09/29/homer-newspaper-revises-charlie-kirk-memorial-coverage-after-pressure-from-republican-lawmaker/\">defended</a> her original characterization of Kirk in an interview with Juneau-based radio station KTOO.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sunh\">“Vance said I should have published the original article as an opinion piece because of the language I used to report the opinions that Kirk regularly, proudly espoused,” Pleznac said. “My reporting of those opinions is not a reflection of my bias but rather a reflection of my research.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r7ln\">The three others who resigned include Erin Thompson, who was the regional editor of the Homer News, Peninsula Clarion and the Juneau Empire; Peninsula Clarion sports and features editor Jeff Helminiak; and Peninsula Clarion reporter Jake Dye.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-10-14_at_1.08.48P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ha5ai\">Homer News reported on a vigil held in a small Alaska town on Sept. 17, 2025, for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. A state lawmaker who helped organize the vigil pressured the newspaper’s parent company to revise the article to remove “partisan spin.”</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Alaska",
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},
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"Homer News",
"Juneau Empire",
"Peninsula Clarion"
],
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],
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{
"title": "California TV station targeted in drive-by shooting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/california-tv-station-targeted-in-drive-by-shooting/",
"first_published_at": "2025-09-25T21:37:26.350724Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-09-25T21:39:00.582141Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-09-25T21:39:00.484557Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
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"city": "Sacramento",
"longitude": -121.4944,
"latitude": 38.58157,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ttjbv\">A drive-by shooting targeted KXTV in Sacramento, California, on Sept. 19, 2025. The TV station reported that <a href=\"https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/suspected-abc10-shooter-believed-be-politically-motivated-attack/103-f9ff741a-da42-4da1-9ded-33d5f18755cf\">multiple rounds were fired</a> into the lobby, but nobody inside was injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"76mm4\">The suspect, Anibal Hernandez Santana, now faces several felony charges, including discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling and assault with a semiautomatic gun. He also faces federal charges of interfering with a radio communication station and possessing and discharging a firearm within a school zone.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vvmn\">Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho told KXTV he believes the attack was politically motivated.</p><p data-block-key=\"iurs\">Ho added that “political violence and violence targeting the media, will not be tolerated here in Sacramento County, and we will hold people accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fs0hr\">In a statement to KXTV, Hernandez’s attorney, Mark Reichel, said it was uncommon for anyone to face state and federal charges simultaneously for the same alleged conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"12bgv\">Hernandez is scheduled to appear in both state and federal court Sept. 25.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m1nu1\">Shattered glass at the KXTV building in Sacramento, California, after a drive-by shooting on Sept. 19, 2025.</p>",
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"actor": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"KXTV"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck by pepper balls, tear-gassed at Illinois ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-pepper-balls-tear-gassed-at-illinois-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-10-06T17:33:19.640975Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-06T17:33:19.640975Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-06T17:29:14.997574Z",
"date": "2025-09-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Broadview",
"longitude": -87.85339,
"latitude": 41.86392,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"62312\">An unidentified photojournalist with the Chicago Sun-Times was struck by two pepper balls and exposed to tear gas while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3o3k\">The photojournalist was standing off to the side of the protest when they were hit with the munitions, fired by federal agents during one of a series of demonstrations held outside the facility where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation. A tear gas canister also landed near the photojournalist’s feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"7r9gk\">The incident appeared to be targeted, according to information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker by the Chicago News Guild. The journalist is not being named due to safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gqgd\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a <a href=\"https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/26/days-after-dallas-terrorist-attack-ice-rioters-gather-outside-ice-broadview-il\">press release</a> on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e7b41\">“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”</p><p data-block-key=\"55eev\">Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/26/ice-is-making-war-on-broadview-and-it-must-stop-suburban-mayor-says/\">reported</a>, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ue49\">According to a Sept. 27 <a href=\"https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/6b822536-db77-4a76-9b14-68d7a0a4bfea?recipientId=85ec311b-1ff6-4e75-88f3-386d8c6bf080\">news release</a>, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8v5vh\">Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2025-09-27&date_upper=2025-09-27&city=Broadview\">affecting multiple journalists</a> — and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-arrested-by-federal-agents-at-illinois-ice-protest/\">later arrested a reporter.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2025-10-06_at_10.13.29.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7bud0\">A tear gas canister disperses a chemical irritant at an anti-deportation protest in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 19, 2025. A Chicago Sun-Times photographer was struck with pepper balls and exposed to the gas while covering the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 41 (Chicago Sun-Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
