The press steps up as Trump targets Chicago

Local journalism is under siege, but still makes itself indispensable

One of the best demonstrations of the vital need for local news coverage has occurred in Chicago in recent weeks as the Trump regime abuses its power to crack down on America’s third-largest city.

Local journalists have documented violence against both citizens and non-citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Local media have exposed false claims by Homeland Security and have captured gripping images of the ways Trump’s federal agents have escalated tensions.

The government’s use of pepper balls and tear gas outside the ICE detention facility in suburban Broadview has made covering the story so challenging that a group of protesters and journalists has sued the Department of Homeland Security over “a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians.”

And expect more civil unrest to come as Trump deploys National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois in a direct rejection of appeals by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Pritzker calls the use of troops an “invasion of Illinois by the federal government.”

With local news in a severe tailspin for decades, there was a real question about whether Chicago’s media would meet the moment. But they have indeed.

“I think the local news has really been fantastic,” said Jennifer Schulze, a former news director for Chicago’s WGN-TV who now writes the Indistinct Chatter newsletter.

And the strong reporting hasn’t come only from legacy outlets such as the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune but also from newer independent media such as Block Club Chicago, the TRiiBE, Borderless, Unraveled, and South Side Weekly.

There is nothing like being there and seeing things with your own eyes, which is why local journalism is so important.

“One of our reporters lives across the street from a grocery store [in the Logan Square neighborhood] that’s been targeted by ICE multiple times in recent weeks,” said Jen Sabella, co-founder and executive editor of Block Club Chicago. “She heard a lot of honking and screaming and went outside. That is when agents threw smoke bombs from their vehicles and hit a motorcyclist with a baton as neighbors yelled and screamed for them to get out of the neighborhood.”

Witnessing such events means journalists don’t have to accept Homeland Security’s version of them.

“There have been things we see with our eyes that we’re then told didn’t happen,” Sabella said. “That’s been happening a lot. We can say, ‘OK, you’re saying this didn’t happen, but we actually saw it.’ Our reporter picked up the smoke bomb from the street and we have a picture of her holding it in their hand, the canister… We have the receipts.”

Here are some other Chicago incidents in which local media have made a difference.

The helicopter raid

Federal agents raided an apartment building in the South Shore neighborhood in a flashy operation that included them rappelling from a helicopter onto the building’s roof. NewsNation, which claims to be unbiased but is right-leaning, was invited to go along with agents to get an “exclusive look” that boosted the regime’s propaganda. Local outlets, including the Sun-Times, noted that some of those detained were U.S. citizens who were held for hours.

The fatal shooting of a motorist

After Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was shot to death during an ICE traffic stop in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, federal officials said an ICE officer was “seriously injured” in the incident. Later, local media reported that bodycam footage from a Franklin Park police officer showed that same officer describing his injuries as “nothing major.”

Vehicle confrontation

The feds said an agent shot and wounded a U.S. citizen in the Brighton Park neighborhood after she was part of a convoy that chased their vehicle and tried to box it in. Officials said the woman rammed the officers’ vehicle, but her lawyer said bodycam footage showed at least some of the officer’s five shots went through the front passenger side of her vehicle, indicating she wasn’t driving toward them. The woman’s lawyer also said bodycam footage showed that just before the shooting, an agent said, “Do something, bitch,” with his hands on his assault rifle. Both the Sun-Times and Tribune wrote strong stories on this.

Identifying targets based on “how they look”

When U.S. Border Patrol agents orchestrated a show of force in downtown Chicago dressed in tactical gear and carrying long guns, their commander made an eye-opening admission of racial profiling in an interview with reporter Chip Mitchell of WBEZ public radio. Gregory Bovino, commander at large of the border force, explained how immigration authorities identify suspects. Among the factors are “the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look. How do they look compared to, say, you?” he said, referring to Mitchell, who is white.

ICE vs. journalists

CBS News Chicago reported that a masked ICE agent fired a pepper ball at one of its reporters for no apparent reason. No protesters were in the vicinity. Separately, the lawsuit against Homeland Security included the claim that “at least four Block Club reporters or photographers were hit with pepper balls by federal officers at the Broadview ICE facility.”

Former WGN news director Schulze says what’s happening in Chicago is “not generating the national attention that I think it deserves.” One big difference, she said, is that local reporters seem to be more focused on the work than on raising their career profile.

“They’re less nervous about blowing the book deal or not getting the MSNBC hit or the CNN hit and just doing the job,” she said. “Being a local reporter means you’re part of that community. You have a vested interest in getting the story right.”

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