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free speech for people
Group Calls on Illinois AG to Open Probe Into 'Unlawful Actions of Federal Agents' in Chicago
"When federal officials become the perpetrators of violence and illegality, it falls to the states to defend the rule of law,” said a lawyer at Free Speech for People.
Oct 27, 2025
A legal advocacy group requested on Monday that the Illinois officials open criminal investigations into the "unlawful" conduct of federal agents deployed to Chicago by President Donald Trump.
Free Speech For People, a national pro-democracy nonprofit, called on state Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke, and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling to probe what it called "an escalating pattern of criminal activity by federal agents" over the past two months of Trump's "Operation Midway Blitz," which was launched in early September, and which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says has resulted in the arrests of more than 1,500 people.
The group highlights several incidents of what they called "military-style operations" carried out across the Chicago area by agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and others.
Agents have shot at least two Chicago residents—a 38-year-old Mexican father of two, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, and a 30-year-old anti-ICE protester and US citizen, Marimar Martinez—with DHS accusing each of ramming their car into officers. In both cases, those accounts would later be called into question by body camera and other footage.
Elsewhere, agents who rappelled from military helicopters would conduct an overnight raid on a South Shore apartment building, where they indiscriminately broke down residents' doors, smashed furniture and belongings, and dragged dozens of them, including children, into U-Haul vans, where some were detained for hours.
The letter details cases of what appears to be overt racial profiling. It notes that Gregory Bovino, the commander of the border patrol operation in Chicago, had suggested that people were being detained based on "how they look" and seemed to hint that the white reporter he spoke to would be less likely to be arrested than others.
In one case, a Latina US citizen, 44-year-old Maria Greeley, was detained at her workplace and held with zip ties for an hour, while officers insisted her passport—which she always carries with her in case of arrest by immigration authorities—was "fake," because she "doesn't look like" her last name was Greeley.
Others have been attacked for protesting or attempting to document ICE raids. Outside the ICE detention facility in the suburb of Broadview, the group said officers' conduct has been "especially brazen."
The facility, where hundreds of detainees are held in reportedly squalid conditions, has been the flashpoint for protests across the city. Many have been met with violence from federal officers, including Pastor David Black, who was shot in the head with a pepper ball while praying outside the facility.
And after being told by Kristi Noem that she and Trump were “sick” of the way protesters were “speaking” about federal law enforcement and that there should be “consequences,” Bovino led a force that fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters and journalists in the state’s designated free speech area outside the ICE facility.
Others have been arrested simply for attempting to document and question ICE's actions during arrest. Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes, who is Puerto Rican, was handcuffed by officers after demanding to know if officers had a warrant for a man they were attempting to detain in a hospital emergency room. In another case, officers broke through the gate of a cemetery to detain two US citizens who were filming their activity, which is protected under the First Amendment.
"These are not law-enforcement operations; they are acts of political violence," said Courtney Hostetler, Free Speech For People's legal director. "President Trump and his agents are using the power of the federal government to kidnap residents, terrorize communities, and attack people for exercising their First Amendment rights. State officials have both the power and the duty to act."
Though the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution limits the ability of states to impede federal law enforcement, Ben Clements, the group's chairman and senior legal adviser, said "federal agents do not have a license to commit crimes."
The group noted that the police chief of Broadview, Thomas Mills, has already initiated three criminal investigations into ICE officers for making false 911 calls to his office, striking protesters with their cars, and shooting a pepper ball at CBS News Chicago reporter Asal Rezaei's vehicle outside the facility.
"When federal officials become the perpetrators of violence and illegality, it falls to the states to defend the rule of law," said Ben Horton, counsel at Free Speech For People. "Illinois must not wait for and, with this lawless administration, cannot rely on Washington to police itself."
The group argued that not only should agents accused of crimes be charged, but that criminal liability extends to Trump and his senior officials who have ordered agents to detain as many people as possible.
"The brutality and illegality of these operations are a feature, not a bug," the letter says. "They are designed to crush dissent and spread fear among President Trump's perceived political enemies and marginalized communities."
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Plurality of Swing-State Voters Backs Trump Impeachment for Attacks on Constitution: Poll
“This is an existential moment for our nation and our democracy," said one progressive campaigner. "We either have a Constitution, or we don’t."
Sep 25, 2025
A new poll has found that a plurality of voters in swing districts supports impeaching US President Donald Trump, with 45% saying that they would strongly support removing him from office.
The poll, which was conducted by Lake Research Partners on behalf of progressive advocacy organization Free Speech for People, found that 49% of voters across 17 swing congressional districts supported impeaching Trump, with 44% of voters in those districts opposed.
The intensity of support for impeaching Trump was also notable, as the 45% who strongly supported removing him from office was higher than the total number of people who opposed removing him.
The poll also showed that Trump is broadly unpopular, with just 40% of voters in swing districts approving of the job he's doing and 56% expressing opposition. Fifty-four percent of respondents in these districts said they strongly opposed Trump—nearly 20 points higher than the 35% of respondents who said they strongly supported him.
John Bonifaz, president and co-counder of Free Speech For People, said that the poll results showed that many Americans understand the grave danger posed by the president to democracy and the rule of law.
“This is an existential moment for our nation and our democracy. We either have a Constitution, or we don't," he said. “Donald Trump has already engaged in multiple abuses of power. We demand that our elected officials in Congress carry out the mandate of their oath to protect the Constitution at this critical time by standing up and demanding impeachment proceedings against this lawless president."
Free Speech for People has been keeping a running tally of what it says are impeachable actions by the president, including deploying the National Guard to carry out law enforcement functions in two American cities; firing a federal prosecutor who said that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges against three of the president's political opponents; encouraging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to threaten media companies with the loss of their broadcast licenses; and his use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to "violate the rights of American residents and citizens, disrupt our communities, and silence his political opponents."
Courtney Hostetler, legal director at Free Speech For People, said that all of these actions show "Trump is actively dismantling the public institutions and constitutional protections that safeguard our democracy," and added that the president's "assault on the Constitution and the rule of law are purposeful, and they are impeachable."
Free Speech for People said Wednesday that at least one million people have signed a petition the group helped organize, demanding Trump's impeachment for "his high crimes against the state."
Trump was impeached twice in his first presidential term, once for asking the president of Ukraine to investigate his political opponent and once for inciting the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
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Constitutional Lawyers Urge AGs to Probe Paramount-Skydance's Millions to Trump
"While these schemes may also violate federal criminal statutes, the DOJ has been co-opted by Trump and cannot be depended upon to fulfill its obligation to impartially investigate," said a Free Speech for People counsel.
Jul 31, 2025
Constitutional lawyers on Thursday wrote to leading prosecutors in California and New York, urging them to open criminal investigations into the recent payments made or promised to U.S. President Donald Trump, his personal associates, or his special interests by Paramount Global and Skydance Media, whose $8 billion merger was approved by federal regulators last week.
"Relevant state and local officials of New York and California must fulfill their investigatory obligations to protect their residents, and to launch criminal investigations into those responsible for the extortion of Paramount and Skydance," said Courtney Hostetler, legal director at the nonprofit Free Speech for People (FSFP).
Hostetler and three of her FSFP colleagues—president John Bonifaz, chairman and senior legal adviser Ben Clements, and senior counsel Suparna Reddy—sent letters to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, New York state Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
They pointed to the Republican president's "baseless" $20 billion lawsuit against Paramount—whose subsidiaries include CBS—over a "60 Minutes" interview with former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who faced Trump in last year's election.
"While some of these payments ostensibly were made to settle a frivolous lawsuit brought by Trump against Paramount subsidiary CBS Broadcasting Inc., the evidence strongly suggests that the lawsuit and its settlement merely veiled Trump's true purposes—namely, to chill the freedom of the press and unlawfully extort payments and other things of value," the letters state.
Paramount settled at the beginning of the month, agreeing to pay "$16 million toward Trump's attorney fees and to fund his presidential library or purported charitable causes chosen by Trump," the letters detail. Then, Skydance met with the Federal Communications Commission about its acquisition of Paramount, and the FCC swiftly approved the megamerger.
According to the FSFP lawyers:
Now it appears that Paramount and Skydance may have taken other, unreported-to-the-court actions in order to secure FCC approval of the merger. Trump claimed that once the merger is approved, Skydance would contribute $20 million in advertising, public service announcements, or similar programming to Trump as part of a side deal to the $16 million settlement. And CBS canceled the popular program "The Late Show" after its host Stephen Colbert, a longtime critic of Trump (and indeed of many politicians), derided the settlement on air as "a big fat bribe." Trump posted on Truth Social that he "absolutely loves" "The Late Show's" cancellation. Paramount also agreed to hire an ombudsman at CBS News to investigate complaints of "political bias," which has the potential to limit journalistic freedom at CBS.
In addition to providing this background, the letters lay out the basis for "an immediate and thorough" probe, citing various laws in each state, and stress that "the immunity available to federal officials under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution is not available in all circumstances and does not preclude criminal investigation and prosecution here."
Although the letters do not name U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Trump loyalist has faced mounting allegations of "serious professional misconduct." Reddy suggested that she likely will not investigate the merger and related payments.
"States should not wait for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act first," said Reddy. "While these schemes may also violate federal criminal statutes, the DOJ has been co-opted by Trump and cannot be depended upon to fulfill its obligation to impartially investigate."
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