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Retired journalists raise the alarm about state sponsored terror in Chicago
"It is without precedent that the biggest names in Chicago journalism have come together to condemn a public action"
You know us.
That’s the very first line of a powerful new public letter from a group of retired, well respected Chicago broadcast journalists. Their letter protests the months-long ICE/CBP terror campaign in our city. Published this week in the Chicago Tribune, it forcefully calls out the horrors we have seen in our streets. It’s a considerable break with long standing fact based journalism practices to remain objective about news events, but the situation here is so grave that these journalists felt they had no choice but to speak out.
The 26 people who signed the letter are a who’s who of Chicago TV and radio news journalists with over 500-years of broadcasting experience between them. Together, in this unprecedented letter, they reminded Chicago of that important bond between journalists and the communities they serve:
“For years, you watched and listened to our coverage of the Chicago area. As journalists, we did our best to bring you accurate, objective information about the people, events and issues that mattered. We hope we gained your trust. So please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong.
We are retired, but our colleagues who are still on the job have shown you a brutal and illegal campaign against fellow Chicagoans, mainly Latinos: violent abductions, gutting families, using tear gas around children, roughing up witnesses, ramming cars and even taking a day care teacher from her school.
Let us be clear: We support the lawful apprehension and deportation of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. The president says he’s after the worst of the worst, but that’s not what’s happening. It’s gone way beyond that. People are presumed guilty until proven innocent. It is not law enforcement; it is terror.”
I talked to a lot of the journalists who signed this letter. What they told me makes me proud of local journalism, proud of my city, and deeply grateful to all the individuals involved.
Phil Ponce put the letter project together. He is a beloved Chicago journalist who reported the news here for nearly three decades, most recently as the host of the news and public affairs program “Chicago Tonight” on the local PBS station. Now that he’s retired and no longer reporting the news, he thought he and other retired reporters still had a role to play.
So Ponce started drafting the letter decrying the Chicago immigration raids and looking for people to co-sign. Ponce told me he put the ‘you know us’ reminder at the very top of the letter because of the deep connection he and his former colleagues have had through the years with the people of Chicago. He described his thinking this way,
“You know our faces, you know our voices, and I think over time, you develop… a sense of trust, a sense of personal connection, and that’s what I wanted to convey… So,because of that connection, please consider what we’re about to say.”
Ponce has also been handing out whistles in the northwest suburbs near where he lives. Chicagoans have been using whistles to warn each other when they see ICE and CPB vehicles in the area. He says this unwarranted assault on Chicago feels personal. “My parents first came here in the late 40s, and they were initially undocumented. They went back to Mexico, arranged their papers, and then came back.”
He added:
“…when I see the faces of the people that are being apprehended, you know, I’m seeing the faces of my mother, my father, my sister, my brother, my nieces, my nephews… I’m haunted to see people with the faces of my family members and my face being victimized in this violent way. It’s haunting, it’s upsetting, and it really goes to my heart.”
Ponce asked only retired journalists to participate so they might more freely express their opinions. No one currently working as a journalist or covering the ICE/CBP events in Chicago is among the signers. Everyone Ponce approached responded with a “Oh, hell, yes. Without hesitation, I’d be proud to be a part of this.”
Here’s what a few other signatories had to say.
Former Chicago-based ABC News correspondent Chris Bury: My hope is that readers who trusted us as journalists better understand that the federal crackdown represented a clear assault on American values.
Longtime WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling: How horrifying it has to be to have masked agents round people up and to have loved ones provide no information on where those gathered are going. I don’t know how else to make a clear statement at how cruel this is than to speak up.
Former ABC7 local news anchor Linda Yu: Since the birth of the US when everyone was an immigrant, immigrants have helped this country grow, enriched it, and made it the leader of the world. I’m lucky to have escaped persecution in China, lucky to have become a broadcaster, lucky that that allowed me to help people. And the majority of those I was able to help were Americans . . . . White, black, brown. These ICE raids may have taken away someone like me.
Other journalists I spoke to have high praise for the effort by these retired broadcasters. Here are some of those comments:
Talk Radio host Joan Esposito: This letter is incredibly significant because it has been put together by people who spent their entire careers NOT being part of the story. It was a seismic shift for them, not least of which is because they all had to know that doing this would make them a target of the Trump-following MAGA crowd. They chose to put their fame, goodwill, and the respect they earned over years all on the line to make a point. The letter surprised me because it’s easy to tell your friends and family what you believe, but declaring how you feel in the public square takes a special kind of courage and I am so proud to call each and everyone of those people my friend.
Former Chicago news producer Rick Beyer: The phrase that really grabbed me: “It is not law enforcement; it is terror.” When Edward R. Murrow looked at the impact of intimidation by Senator Joe McCarthy back in the 1950s, he told his fellow CBS journalists “The terror is right here in this room.” Now the terror is walking the streets, wearing masks, pointing guns, and violating our most fundamental rights. And these journalists are giving us an important warning.
Longtime Chicago newspaper Editor Mark Jacob: The veteran TV journalists who signed this letter worked hard to establish their credibility over decades, and it’s inspirational to see them use their credibility to defend the people of Chicago against the violence brought here by Trump’s agents. It’s a very powerful letter, well crafted and heartfelt. I hope and think it will have a strong impact. If it does, it will be a testament to the power that local news still has even in this era of news industry disruption and disinvestment.
Former Chicago news producer Willie Chriesman says parts of the letter “speaks to the fact that we do have more that unites us than separates us and it is something we should all hold onto tightly…especially in times like this.”
Former Chicago journalist Sharon Van Zwieten: Never have I ever seen anything like this. Unprecedented. Significant beyond. As journalists, this generation was trained to observe, report, interpret, analyze but never to comment. But this letter stands out because none of the people here were solicited for their opinion. They offered it up. It wasn’t a microphone they couldn’t avoid; these people found their microphone and plugged it in.
Current local news exec: It is without precedent that the biggest names in Chicago journalism have come together to condemn a public action…what was most striking is that it is literally a who’s who of the journalists who made their careers seeking truth and holding the powerful accountable. For these journalists - many of whom I know - objectivity is an obsession. Yet clearly to this respected group, we have crossed the line. What has been happening in Chicago is beyond the bounds of what anyone with a conscience should condone. I predict their voices will matter.
The letter from the retired journalists comes as Chicagoans have endured months of ICE and CBP activity, much of which was found to be illegal by federal judges. During their stay in Chicago, federal agents have shot two people, killing one of them. Vigilant residents, rapid response teams, and journalists alike have documented the federal troops using pepper spray and pepper balls on everyone from toddlers to ministers and spraying tear gas into at least 10 neighborhoods.
As Block Club Chicago reports, the agents also “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.”
All of this has been reported on by journalists in Chicago. “I think the coverage has been damn courageous,” Ponce told me.
“Focused, professional and compelling. These journalists are putting their lives on the line, and I mean that literally. They have been subject to death threats and harassment by the government. When they report objectively, they’ve gotten phone calls from government officials blasting them, their home addresses have been published in some instances…”
Journalists kept the city informed. They reported, and they did the analytical work. For example, WBEZ and the Sun-Times reviewed hundreds of court documents, videos and news reports and found that between September 8 and November 10th, federal agents used 18 types of force and engaged in dangerous vehicle chases.
I could not be prouder of Chicago’s local journalists, the working and the retired. They are reminding all of us that one of the most important assets any journalist has is trust and that local news matters now more than ever.
Jennifer Schulze is a longtime Chicago journalist. She’s on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social and Substack at “Indistinct Chatter.”
I will add that Mike Royko's ghost is absolutely apoplectic about what has been going on with Midway Blitz and BORTAC in his beloved metropolitan area.
Bravo Chicago Journalists!!! Nothing disinfects better than sunshine!