• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Gregory Royal Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter, has been accused of interfering with federal authorities during an ICE operation. 

Pratt had posted on X that ICE agents were operating on 26th St. in the Little Village area in Chicago, according to Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit news organization that was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing the federal government of using excessive force against journalists and peaceful protesters.

However, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, countered with this question: “Why is a Chicago Tribune reporter telegraphing the location of federal law enforcement?” Pratt was soon being called a traitor, and apparently had his home address posted online.

Block Club Chicago argues that Pratt was in his rights to be reporting on the scene.

“Everything the federal government does, in their eyes, is good, and anybody who disagrees is bad — including members of the press who are trying to do the same job they’ve done for 225 years in this country,” said Don Craven, a longtime media attorney and First Amendment expert, in a statement, according to Block Club Chicago. 

“The work speaks for itself,” Pratt said in a text message to Block Club on Thursday. “Journalism is not a crime.”