Following a month-long court battle that featured appearances by top federal officials and an appeals court’s rebuke , a high-stakes hearing is underway over the treatment of protesters and journalists amid the feds’ aggressive deportation campaign in Chicago.

Plaintiff’s attorney Craig Futterman began by arguing federal agents are targeting “ordinary people who have the courage to observe, document, speak out against what defendants are doing.”

Department of Justice lawyer Sarmad Khojasteh countered by asking, “to what extent does the freedom of speech protect individuals in obstructing and/or threatening conduct — throwing rocks, bottles fireworks, surrounding and pinning down law enforcement officials?”

The first witness to take the stand was Father Brendan Curran who testified that

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