File photo: a Chicago Police Department vehicle, January 30, 2016. Photo: Chicago Police Chevy Tahoe 2 by Arvell Dorsey Jr., CC BY 2.0; resized for display. The image does not show the April 2, 2026 operation.
An April 2 anti-ICE speaking event at Chicago’s Co-Prosperity was monitored by federal agents and local officers, according to a Homeland Security Investigations report filed in federal court October 12. WIRED reported on the record October 16.
The report says HSI investigators in Minnesota requested assistance from Chicago agents to identify people attending the speaking tour and obtain video and audio recordings. It identifies the event as part of a tour about resistance to immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
The document lists Chicago police, Cook and Kane county sheriff’s personnel and a Downers Grove officer among those involved. It also describes an undercover Aurora officer and an undercover HSI agent attending the event.
One undercover agent carried a recorder and transmitter, the report says. It records a loss of transmission during the evening and says recordings were subsequently shared with case agents through Microsoft Teams on April 7.
Outside the venue, the report describes license-plate checks and a planned log of approximately 219 vehicles parked in the area. Those vehicles were observed nearby; the document does not establish that every vehicle belonged to someone attending the talk.
A Chicago police task-force officer also requested footage from a police camera outside the venue. The report describes that request and its expected processing time, without establishing that the footage was obtained.
In WIRED’s October 16 account, Chicago police defended their participation as criminal enforcement permitted under Illinois law. ACLU of Illinois spokesperson Ed Yohnka called for an accounting of local officers’ involvement.
The operation took place April 2, months before this week’s filing and reporting. The agency’s report provides its own account; the filing contains no judicial ruling on lawfulness.
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