FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 8, 2025
chiheadlineclub@gmail.com
The Chicago Headline Club and other local media outlets and organizations hailed a victory from a federal judge for upholding the right for journalists to do their jobs without facing unprovoked attacks from federal agents. The club took legal action following multiple examples of federal agents assaulting journalists who were covering recent protests at an ICE facility at Broadview, Ill.
“The Chicago Headline Club stood up for the First Amendment, and the judge delivered a significant victory for press freedom,” the CHC board of directors said.
Judge Sara Ellis said she planned to issue a written temporary restraining order Thursday that will apply to the entire northern district of the Chicago area federal court and not limit the Temporary Restraining Order to Broadview only. Ellis said she needed more time to craft the wording in the written order that is as “clear and direct as possible.”
The judge responded to the lawsuit requesting she prohibit federal agents from using pepper-spray bullets and various other actions in targeting journalists, reporters and photographers in the traditional job of gathering news.
We are part of a coalition of media organizations and individual journalists who brought the case listed under the docket title of Chicago Headline Club vs. Noem 1:25 cv-12173. Our lawsuit is joined with clergy and individual protesters calling for their First Amendment rights to be respected. Our focus is on press freedom.
Respectfully,
The Chicago Headline Club Board of Directors