ICE Killed A Man Outside Chicago Last Year. Little Has Been Done To Investigate Neither the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office nor Franklin Park police chose to launch probes into the death of Silverio Villegas González. That’s in stark contrast to Minneapolis, where local off...

@mollydevore.bsky.social looked into Silverio Villegas' killing and found neither the State's Attorney nor Franklin PD have moved to investigate.

Meanwhile, local officials in Minnesota are actively investigating Pretti and Good's killings by federal agents:

blockclubchicago.org/2026/03/23/i...

O'Neill Burke wouldn't denounce Trump because she wanted to 'maintain' relationship with feds, emails show The emails were referenced in a new court filing by a coalition seeking a special prosecutor to investigate Operation Midway Blitz. The coalition argued that Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neil...

The coalition seeking a special prosecutor to investigate fed. agents says the email shows a conflict of interest that's stopped O'Neill Burke from investigating cases like the fed killing of Silverio Villegas
✍️ @jonseidel.bsky.social @sophiesherry.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Body Cam Video Shows Chicago Cop Took Cover for 90 Seconds After Fatally Shooting His Partner, Krystal Rivera Body camera videos released Friday show that officer Carlos Baker ran up a stairwell after encountering an armed man and firing the gunshot that killed Rivera.

"I was lost and confused. I was in denial that I even fired my gun,” he told investigators, according to recordings of interviews obtained by the Illinois Answers Project and Chicago Sun-Times.

illinoisanswers.org/2026/04/17/o...

Chicago cop who inadvertently shot and killed his partner has a lengthy disciplinary record in a short career Officer Carlos A. Baker has had more than a dozen complaints against him, records show.

Highly recommend reading the previous reporting by @peternickeas.bsky.social @ctoner.bsky.social & @schuba.bsky.social which notes Baker's history of misconduct complaints and Rivera's role as a key witness when a Glock went missing from a gun buyback in 2023.

chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

Video Shows Cop Who Shot Krystal Rivera Waited Nearly 2 Minutes Before Helping Her Videos released Friday show the moments leading up to Officer Carlos Baker fatally shooting his partner, Rivera, as well as the aftermath.

Body cam footage, scanner audio & incident reports have been released in the shooting of Officer Krystal Rivera by her partner Carlos Baker.

It shows Baker firing the shot, running away, waiting upstairs for ~2 min, then dragging Rivera down to the 1st floor.
blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/17/v...

How Ald. Raymond Lopez Became Conservative Media's Favorite Chicago Democrat As Southwest Side neighbors were targeted or hid in their homes, Lopez repeatedly defended Trump's immigration roundups on conservative and right-wing media.

As Operation Midway Blitz targeted Southwest side residents, Ald. Raymond Lopez made at least 10 appearances on right-wing media, ripping immigration “sanctuary” laws & repeating false claims that roundups were targeting criminals.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/h...

✍️ @mannyramos.bsky.social

Mentally ill man restrained in chair for 3 days settles case in Williamson County A man with mental illness who says he was strapped down to a chair for three days at Williamson County Jail reached a settlement in his civil rights case against […]

“There’s nothing in this world that was more terrifying.”

Travis Braden, 39, says he was strapped down to a restraint chair for 3 days in the Williamson County Jail while in a mental health crisis. He sued the county and settled for $27,500.

Immigrants 'Wasting Away' At For-Profit Michigan Detention Center Months After ICE Arrests In a Michigan detention center, Chicago-area immigrants face difficult conditions amid mounting challenges to defend their immigration cases, they said.

For weeks, I spoke to Chicago-area immigrants held in a Michigan detention center months after they were arrested without warrants ––– or ordered deported.

Inside the center, the conditions are hard to bear, they said.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/10/i...

State's Attorney's Refusal To Drop Charges Against Nonviolent ICE Protesters A 'Waste' Of Resources, Some Say Over the past month, prosecutors have dropped charges against the majority of protesters arrested by local police outside the federal facility in Broadview. But 20 cases are still pending — and those ...

Broadview protesters still facing charges are urging prosecutors to drop their cases.

“The state is wasting its own scarce resources ... and I am wasting hours of an attorney who could be working to support people who are detained."

@blockclubchi.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/02/s...

Busy week for maternal health on the South Side where —

The Chicago South Side Birth Center broke ground ahead of next year's opening: blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/07/s...

UChicago now has a 24/7 doula team for patients with eligible insurance, incl. Medicaid: blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/09/a...

Huge win by @illinoisanswers.bsky.social.

After CPD officer Krystal Rivera was shot and killed by her partner last June, a judge blocked the release of the bodycam footage.

An appeals court judge struck down that ruling and the footage will be released.

mailchi.mp/4b99ed7ce43d...

West Suburban Hospital, Safety-Net Health Center Serving West Siders, Announces Abrupt Closure West Suburban Medical Center's president and CEO said the hospital's faulty records and billing system caused a drop in revenue. But problems have been mounting for years, sources told Block Club Chic...

Prasad described the closure as a temporary solution to longstanding revenue shortfalls...

But sources blamed chronic mismanagement that they say has led to inadequate care and dangerous conditions for some patients.

✍🏽 @mannyramos.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2026/03/25/s...

ICE Killed A Man Outside Chicago Last Year. Little Has Been Done To Investigate Neither the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office nor Franklin Park police chose to launch probes into the death of Silverio Villegas González. That’s in stark contrast to Minneapolis, where local off...

ICE agents shot & killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez after he dropped his kids off at school in September.

Minn officials launched investigations into Pretti & Good's killings. Cook County has not done the same for Villegas Gonzalez.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/03/23/i...

✍️ @mollydevore.bsky.social

Dan Davis, Mount Greenwood Man Missing Since November, Found Dead, Officials Say Dan Davis, the longtime sound guy and beloved employee at 115 Bourbon Street, was found dead Monday in Blue Island, officials with the suburb confirmed.

Davis’s daughter, Wendy Davis posted Tuesday, confirming:

“This is the news we’ve all been expecting in a way, but nothing really prepares you for it. I’ve never laughed harder with anybody than I have with my dad. And I can’t wait to do it again someday.”
blockclubchicago.org/2026/03/10/d...

Why Is The Cook County State's Attorney Prosecuting Nonviolent ICE Protesters? A Block Club investigation found dozens of protesters arrested by state police are still facing criminal charges for minor infractions, such as sitting on a concrete barrier — even after Gov. JB…

UPDATE: Cook County prosecutors dismissed 21 of the roughly 100 cases against ICE protesters Wednesday. About 80 cases are still being prosecuted, mostly as misdemeanors.

Last week, @minabloom.bsky.social reported on the cases still open: blockclubchi.co/3ZXJS6K

Why Is The Cook County State's Attorney Prosecuting Nonviolent ICE Protesters? A Block Club investigation found dozens of protesters arrested by state police are still facing criminal charges for minor infractions, such as sitting on a concrete barrier — even after Gov. JB Pritz...

They're charged w/ misdemeanors for things like sitting on concrete barriers.

One w/ a felony for allegedly fingerpainting on a barrier.

The feds have dropped similar cases; the Cook County State's Attorney is prosecuting nearly all.
📝 @minabloom.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/26/w...

A neighbor is suing the Chicago Housing Authority over a vacant West Humboldt Park property used as a drug stash house. blockclubchi.co/4qOg4Eq

Chicago teen whose father was detained by ICE while she fought cancer dies The Torres family story came to public attention after the teen’s father was detained at a Home Depot in Niles.

“Ofelia was heroic and brave in the face of ICE’s detention and threatened deportation of her father... and we hope that she will serve as a model for us all for how to be courageous and to fight for what’s right to our last breaths.”
✍🏽 @royalpratt.bsky.social

www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/14/c...

In all, Black drivers received 30,751 tickets during the study’s time period — over 21,000 more tickets than white drivers, who received only 14 percent of tickets across Chicago while making up 36 percent of its population.

✍🏽 Mack Liederman

Evidence Shows Feds Lied To Justify Shooting Marimar Martinez, Lawyer Says Body camera footage shows Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum yanking his steering wheel toward Marimar Martinez's car, hitting her, before getting out of his car and shooting her.

New evidence suggests Exum, a fed-trained firearms instructor, fired as Martinez was turning away from him.

We also ID-ed agents Lorenzo Cordero & Adam J. Perkins who were in the vehicle w/ Exum & pointed weapons toward another car before Exum fired on Martinez

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/11/e...

Gun Violence Down On West Side, But Prevention Groups Say Success Is Threatened By Trump Cuts The city's major decrease in murders and shootings in 2025 was led by a small group of community areas primarily on the West and South sides. New efforts helped violence prevention groups achieve that...

"Much of the decrease in shootings and homicides can be attributed to a small cluster of community areas, with seven of them accounting for 35 percent of the total citywide drop in gun violence..."

✍🏽 @michaeljliptrot.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/09/g...

Families Scammed By Convicted Mortgage Fraudsters Are Still Fighting For Their Homes More than two decades after Mark Diamond began conning homeowners on the West and South sides, some of his victims have lost their homes, while others are battling lenders in court.

Mark Diamond swindled more than 100 families in his reverse mortgage scam. He's now serving 17 years in prison.

But some of the families he scammed are still battling the lenders he used in court and losing their homes anyway...

blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/03/f...

Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raym...

Agents in Alex Pretti's shooting identified -- Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35.

Ochoa joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez joined CBP's OFO in 2014.

Both are from South Texas.

via @propublica.org
www.propublica.org/article/alex...

ICYMI Absolutely scathing opinion from Judge Fred Biery in the case of 5yo Liam Conejo Ramos and his father. From start to finish, just doesn't let up.

Ends with a famous quote from the Constitutional Convention:

"'Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?' 'A republic, if you
can keep it.'"

Journalist Don Lemon arrested after protest that disrupted Minnesota church service Journalist Don Lemon has been arrested after he entered a Minnesota church and recorded anti-immigration enforcement protesters who disrupted a service.

"The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing by an ICE officer."

apnews.com/article/don-...

'Abolish ICE' Submitted 9,200 Times For Chicago Snowplow Naming Contest, Records Show Anti-ICE sentiments made up nearly 80 percent of submissions. Voting for the top five names opens Sunday and runs through Feb. 14.

Courtesy of a good journo friend who stays curious
blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/28/a...

The Lawyer for the Agent Who Shot Renee Good Thinks ICE Has Gone Too Far GOP candidate Chris Madel is dropping out of the Minnesota’s governor’s race, saying national Republicans “have made it nearly impossible.”

Earlier this month he helped Jonathan Ross find representation: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Update from Talya Minsberg

Chris Madel, a Republican, announced he is ending his candidacy for Minnesota governor. Madel said he “cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

As Bitter Cold Settles In, Chicago Tallies Homeless Population City workers, volunteers and homeless services providers fanned out across the city to conduct the annual point-in-time count of people living unhoused, as some sought shelter to escape dangerously lo...

"As they moved around the city, the night grew colder, with temperatures feeling around 3 degrees below zero about 9:30 p.m. — as those doing the unsheltered count began their work — and dropping to around 14 degrees below zero about 1 a.m."

blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/23/a...