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Chicago City Wire

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton: 'Violent insurrections in Chicago and Portland are not coincidental'

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Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch | X

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch | X

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a legal advocacy group, said his belief that the government shutdown and political unrest in Democrat-led cities are interconnected. He made this statement in a post on X.

"The Left's shutting down the government and their violent insurrections in Chicago and Portland are not coincidental, I suspect," said Fitton.

On September 8th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated Operation Midway Blitz. This operation targets illegal aliens residing in Chicago and Illinois under Governor J.B. Pritzker's sanctuary policies. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin was quoted in a DHS press release saying, "DHS is launching Operation Midway Blitz in honor of Katie Abraham who was killed in Illinois by a criminal illegal alien who should have never been in our country. This operation will target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Chicago."


Screenshot of Tom Fitton's X post on October 4th. | X

Since the operation's launch, DHS has reported a significant increase in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) law enforcement officers as they carry out enforcement operations. In another statement, DHS detailed hundreds of arrests of criminal illegal aliens during Operation Midway Blitz.

As of October 6th, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order declaring an "ICE Free Zone," which bans Federal Immigration Agents from using city property for their operations. In a press release on Chicago.gov, Johnson said, "We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority. ICE agents are detaining elected officials, tear-gassing protestors, children, and Chicago police officers, and abusing Chicago residents. We will not stand for that in our city."

Fitton leads Judicial Watch, a public interest group focused on investigating and prosecuting government corruption since its founding in 1994. The organization aims to ensure that government and judicial officials act ethically and do not abuse their powers.

According to its website, Judicial Watch is described as a conservative educational foundation promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity within government and politics through litigation, investigations, and public outreach.