Chicago’s top federal prosecutor withdrew all charges Thursday against four activists whose protest at a federal building during a major immigration enforcement operation had drawn national attention. The dismissal, announced in open court by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, came after weeks of judicial scrutiny of the grand jury that indicted them — a panel whose integrity was undermined, according to the court record, by a prosecutor’s private meeting with a juror and the exclusion of other jurors who questioned the prosecution’s case.
Boutros told U.S. District Judge April Perry that he learned of the misconduct only recently, and he did not dispute the allegations. “No one acted with the intent to mislead your honor, and I think that they were following your order to give the law,” Boutros said, adding that the conduct was “upsetting” and the reason the case was being dismissed.
The charges stemmed from a July 2025 demonstration outside the Kluczynski Federal Building. Protesters gathered as federal agents carried out sweeping arrests in immigrant communities across the city. Prosecutors alleged the four activists conspired to impede federal officers, a felony that could have sent them to prison for years.
The case had already wobbled. An earlier trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked. Judge Perry then began reviewing grand jury materials, asking Boutros about what she called a “specter of impropriety.” After a closed-door examination of redacted transcripts, Boutros acknowledged that a member of his office met with a grand juror outside formal proceedings and that several grand jurors who expressed disagreement with the government’s case were prevented from participating in the indictment.
Defense attorney Michael Rabbitt criticized Boutros for not disciplining any staff attorneys, though he later walked back an earlier suggestion that the conduct amounted to criminal acts. The four activists, who had argued the prosecution was a political response to dissent, were in court when the dismissal was announced. They left without comment.