Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jake Wittich

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 15h

In the past 11 days, Department of Homeland Security Agents have used tear gas against the people of Chicago 4 times:
in Logan Square (Oct. 3); Brighton Park (Oct. 4); Albany Park (Oct. 11) and East Side (Oct. 14).
In all, 40 CPD officers have been exposed to the gas. @wttw.bsky.social

Federal Agents Deploy Tear Gas Against Crowd on Chicago’s Southeast Side

Federal immigration agents deployed tear gas on Chicago’s Southeast Side on Tuesday morning after a crowd gathered at the scene of a car crash involving those agents.

news.wttw.com

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Lilly Wachowski @lillywachowski.bsky.social · 23h

it is disorienting when you lose someone who you navigate your life to, like a star blinking out of the night sky.
a life lived in fearlessness, she carved out space for so many of us.
an amazing woman.
check out this doc by some of my pals.

Watch MAJOR! Online | Vimeo On Demand

The award-winning documentary "MAJOR!" follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender elder who has been fighting for…

vimeo.com

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Sue Kerr @pghlesbian.bsky.social · 23h

Virginia Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears Says Firing Someone for Being Gay Is Not Discrimination bit.ly/48qLHOY

Virginia Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears Says Firing Someone for Being Gay Is Not Discrimination

In a gubernatorial debate, the candidate also continued to push her anti-trans talking points.

bit.ly

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Windy City Times @windycitytimes.com · 23h

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy was born on the South Side of Chicago in 1946 and moved to New York City in 1962. There she became involved in the city’s drag and ballroom scenes and later participated in the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Miss Major, Chicago-born trailblazer for trans liberation, dies at 78 - Windy City Times

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, the revolutionary transgender activist who participated in the Stonewall Riots, died at 78 years old on Oct. 13. Her death was announced by the House of gg, the Arkansas-base...

windycitytimes.com

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mchlmtthw.bsky.social @mchlmtthw.bsky.social · 24d

So Chicago Eagle will have Baton Show Lounge on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays!!!!

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Jake Wittich @jakewittich.bsky.social · 1d

The same ICE agent who handcuffed Ald. Jessie Fuentes has been filmed in at least 3 other violent encounters, including the viral arrest of a woman in Waukegan in front of the mayor.

“He’s obviously a danger to individuals and particularly women," Fuentes said.

Read more at @windycitytimes.com

Ald. Jessie Fuentes to file lawsuit against ICE agent who handcuffed her in Humboldt Park incident - Windy City Times

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) is preparing to file a lawsuit against the ICE agent who handcuffed and threatened to arrest her at Humboldt Park Health earlier this month. In an interview with Windy ...

windycitytimes.com

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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 1d

“We’ve seen that when we have large numbers of volunteers out here, they target us less,” a neighbor said.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/12/4...

400 Rogers Park Neighbors Rally After ICE Arrests 4, Including Tamale Vendor

Neighbors lined Clark Street on Saturday as a show of support after multiple immigration arrests. "We've seen that when we have large numbers of volunteers out here, they target us less," a neighbor s...

blockclubchicago.org

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 3d

I wrote a little about some of the little details you might have missed in this video and why it hit me so hard as a trans person this morning:

www.burnsnotice.com/you-have-to-...

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Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 1d

Fighting Trump’s immigration blitz in Chicago, ward by ward. A story from @jake-sheridan.bsky.social @chicagotribune.com about aldermen opposing ICE www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/t...

Fighting Trump’s immigration blitz in Chicago, ward by ward

Some Chicago aldermen are adding new duties: getting tear-gassed and handcuffed, organizing legions of volunteers, and standing guard near elementary schools.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3d

In plain English:

Troops remain federalized for now, but cannot be deployed in Illinois.

Order: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Background: www.lawdork.com/p/the-trials...

The trials of litigating against Trump

As Trump troop deployments are blocked in Chicago, Trump appellate appointees push back on the order blocking deployments in Portland. And, another Trump target indicted.

www.lawdork.com

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 4d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 4d

A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.

WGN-TV producer detained during ICE enforcement action in Lincoln Square

A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.

trib.al

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Papa Rides A Bike @paparidesabike.bsky.social · 5d

Yow.

But over the past month, federal agents have shot at least two people, killing one; repeatedly tear-gassed protesters and first responders; shot rubber bullets at protesters; detained U.S. citizens, including children; handcuffed a Chicago alderperson in a hospital; smoke bombed and tear-gassed a Chicago street; fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter and detained a journalist, among other incidents.

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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 6d

Wes Streeting extended the puberty-blocker ban on 6 November 2024.

Leia died by suicide on 11 November 2024.

17-year-old trans girl's suicide over NHS wait times was preventable says coroner

A 17-year-old trans girl's death by suicide over NHS wait times could have been prevented with swift intervention, a coroner has ruled.

www.thepinknews.com

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Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 5d

Trump celebrated, "We took the freedom of speech away.”

Completely normal. Not at all unhinged. Not at all like a dictator.

www.advocate.com/news/trump-n...

Donald Trump brags that ‘we took the freedom of speech away’

The First Amendment of the Constitution would like a word.

www.advocate.com

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Katy Montgomerie 🦗 @katymontgomerie.com · 5d

www.dallasnews.com/news/politic...

We surveyed 90 trans Texans. Most said they’re living in fear and weighing a move

Respondents said anti-trans policies have complicated their sense of home in Texas and pushed them to consider leaving the state.

www.dallasnews.com

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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 5d

Wells: "Take the president at his word, when it has been unfiltered by his lawyers."

Trump's orders are unthethered by reality, Wells says, echoing the words of the federal judge presiding over the Oregon case.

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Reposted by Jake Wittich

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 5d

Greetings from U.S. District Court Judge April Perry’s courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is present, waiting for the high stakes hearing to begin. @wttw.bsky.social

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 5d

FULL STORY: As lawyers for the Trump administration defended the president’s unprecedented decision to send National Guard troops to Chicago despite the objections of Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson, officials acknowledged that California troops had also been sent to Illinois. @wttw.bsky.social

Judge to Decide Whether to Block National Guard Deployment as Trump Sends California Troops to Illinois

Lawyers for the Department of Justice told U.S. District Court Judge April Perry the president deployed the National Guard because “levels of violence against federal law enforcement executing their l...

news.wttw.com

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Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 5d

Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes told me that her violent detention for asking questions of two ICE officers is a harbinger for things to come as Trump threatens to jail Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s mayor.

www.advocate.com/news/jessie-...

Chicago alderperson describes ‘sanctioned violence’ after ICE detained her for simply asking questions

“I simply asked if they had a signed judicial warrant,” Jessie Fuentes told The Advocate. “That’s not a crime. That’s a constitutional question."

www.advocate.com

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Reposted by Jake Wittich

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 6d

A federal judge in Chicago extended restrictions on ICE's warrantless arrests until February 2026, finding that the agency violated a settlement agreement by arresting 22 people without warrants.

Chicago judge cites South Shore raid, Supreme Court controversy while ruling against ICE

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings found that ICE arrested 22 people early this year without a warrant, and in violation of what’s known as the Castanon Nava settlement agreement.

trib.al

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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 6d

“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?” @wttw.bsky.social

Donald Trump Says Brandon Johnson, JB Pritzker ‘Should Be in Jail’

Trump’s comments, posted to his social media platform, came a day after 200 Texas National Guard troops under the command of federal officials arrived at a military facility near Joliet over the vehem...

news.wttw.com

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Reposted by Jake Wittich

News is Out @newsisout.bsky.social · 6d

📣 Celebrate over 100 years of LGBTQ+ media! 🏳️‍🌈 Join us for the 2nd annual Local LGBTQ+ Media Giving Day on Oct. 8, 2025, during #LGBTQHistoryMonth. Support queer journalism with one tax-deductible donation: givebutter.com/LGBTQequityf.... Let’s keep our stories alive! #LGBTQMediaDay

LGBTQ+ Local Journalism Fund

By Local Media Foundation

givebutter.com

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Reposted by Jake Wittich

The TRiiBE @thetriibe.com · 7d

Chicago Ald. Gregory Mitchell oversees the 7th Ward, which is home to the South Shore apartment building at the center of last week’s ICE raid.

He didn’t sign the letter.

Mitchell has not yet publicly issued a statement on the raid.

thetriibe.com/2025/10/so-a...

So, about that letter of support for Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes: 13 alderpeople didn’t sign it • The TRiiBE

The letter describes what the agents did to Fuentes as an “abuse of power.” Mayor Brandon Johnson, City Clerk, Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin also signed it.

thetriibe.com

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Jim Daley @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social · 6d

Damn right.

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.

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d

What's happening in Chicago is not normal.

The arrest of Alderperson Fuentes is just the latest example of how far Noem and Bovino are willing to go to ignore the rule of law. We must all speak up.

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