Dave Byrnes
Dave Byrnes (he/him) is a journalist covering courts, policing and popular movements in his hometown of Chicago.
Stories by Dave Byrnes
-
“ICE never really left:” car crashes and courthouse arrests mark spring escalation
Videos show federal agents pointing weapons at bystanders and trying to access state property as rapid response groups have reported at least 80 detainments across Chicagoland in the last five weeks.
-
Chicago legal reform group lambasts Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke in new report
The Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts found that in Burke’s first 500 days in office, she has pursued policies that “present fewer checks on police power in prosecution and prevent wrongfully convicted people from seeking redress.”
-
Feds “conducting surveillance” at domestic violence courthouse, internal documents show
A court general order and new state law have not stopped ICE from increasingly staking out Chicago area courthouses for arrests since February. Sightings of federal agents near court continue this week as “processing” of detainees at Broadview has accelerated.
-
“Urgency was left in the dust long ago”—few answers from Chicago police superintendent on department collaboration with ICE
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling defended his officers’ actions amid the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign in Chicago, waving off community criticism as people not having an “open mind.”
-
“Pressure, influence, and intimidation”—house call by former Chicago cop sparks dispute among police oversight officials
Retired Chicago police sergeant Lee Bielecki’s snooping at the home of a member of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is part of a pattern of intimidation and attempts to influence the nomination process for the commission, activists and police district councilors say.
-
Police accountability commission under fire: “You have state power—fucking use it.”
Chicagoans shared accounts of Chicago police helping ICE and Border Patrol agents at a public listening session they criticized as long overdue.
-
“Nobody deserves to go through what I went through”
Ex-Waukegan cop, convicted of felony misconduct for 2019 beating, gets jail time on delay.
-
Ex-Waukegan cop guilty of official misconduct, cleared on aggravated battery charge
Lake County judge returns mixed ruling in the first of two criminal trials against ex-police officer Dante Salinas.
-
Aggravated battery trial begins for ex-cop also accused of murder
Fired Waukegan police officer Dante Salinas faced trial Monday on felony charges stemming from an August 2019 arrest in which he’s accused of breaking bones in a man’s face. He faces separate murder and manslaughter charges for fatally shooting a Black teen in October 2020.
-
What happened to Silverio Villegas González
Immigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was quickly disproven by videos captured by witnesses.