CHICAGO — In an extraordinary move, a federal grand jury has refused to indict a couple arrested while legally carrying firearms and protesting at the Broadview ICE facility last month in a case federal authorities used to paint the two as a pair of “armed rioters.”

The refusal stunned a veteran defense attorney representing one of the demonstrators and came on the same day that prosecutors dropped charges against a third protestor after new footage of their encounter with agents led them to abandon the case — at least for now.

The three are among more than a dozen protesters arrested and charged by federal agents since late last month, according to court records reviewed by Block Club Chicago. They were also among six people federally charged so far in cases stemming from protests that

See Full Page