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Good morning, Chicago,
I have a spreadsheet for everything.
Think I’m exaggerating? At 10 years old, I made a detailed handwritten table of all of the victims and accusers of the Salem witch trials, complete with dates and outcomes … for fun.
Gathering data and organizing information is often how I try to make sense of the confounding things I cover.
Like when hundreds of federal agents descended upon our city last fall and left ruptured families in their wake. Almost all of the agents wore masks to conceal their identities.
So when 750 Border Patrol body-camera videos and more than 100 incident reports landed on my desk last fall, I immediately began to log them.
The records came from a lawsuit Block Club Chicago and other media organizations filed against the Department of Homeland Security, and the government released them in batches.
For every video, I noted each time agents used force, made threats or arrested someone. From incident reports, I extracted agents’ names, ages, work experience and uses of force, noting inconsistencies with corresponding body-camera footage.
Then I organized it all into the neat columns, rows and formulas of a spreadsheet — something we could count and search and attempt to analyze.
In the end, we had the names and professional backgrounds for 271 Border Patrol agents and were able to match them up with body-camera footage of their actions during Operation Midway Blitz.
We now know the agents who wreaked chaos in our city last fall were trained, often specifically for crowd control, and most of them had more than 12 years on the job.
Yet they often attacked civilians and lied about it.
You can read what the data revealed in our story below.
Crystal Paul
Investigative Editor |
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Though the federal agents often wore masks concealing their identities, Block Club Chicago identified 271 of them. Many were trained specifically for crowd control, yet they reported using force more than 150 times — and sometimes lied about it. |
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CHICAGO |
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Chicago’s favorite weatherman said he thoroughly enjoyed making an appearance on the show’s penultimate episode — in which he was given no scripted lines. |
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CHICAGO |
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Officials declared an extreme heat warning for the area through 10 p.m. Wednesday, urging neighbors to stay indoors as much as possible. |
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CHICAGO |
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The Protecting Renters Ordinance would also ban “junk” rental fees and require landlords to provide a valid reason for evictions and lease non-renewals. |
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Even after a $4 million boost, the Police Department program has struggled, Block Club found. Now alderpeople led by Nicole Lee want police leaders to answer questions. |
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CHICAGO |
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Take a hike at Morton Arboretum with your dog, party with River Rangers at the 5th annual Wild Mile Block Party, volunteer for a stewardship day and more. |
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Latest: Why Men Die First — Discussing What Men Need To Know About Their Health |
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🔊 Listen On Spotify |
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EDGEWATER |
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The queer-led sober venue will open in August in the space that housed the upscale Vietnamese restaurant, which recently closed after 40 years in business. |
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ROGERS PARK |
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The project will update the gallery space and archives and create a wheelchair-accessible entrance, among other upgrades. The museum will reopen in May. |
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WEST PULLMAN |
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The team behind the Black-owned Living Fresh Market is developing a smaller-format store for the space with the help of a $150,000 grant. |
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LAKEVIEW |
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Moulton Fine Art Gallery has become known for owner Josh Moulton’s paintings of Chicago neighborhoods, landmarks and local businesses. |
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Thanks for supporting Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Click here to support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation. Subscribe here. |
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