A federal grand jury refused to indict a manager of a Lake View comedy club who’s now been cleared of charges that he assaulted a U.S. Border Patrol agent involved in this fall’s aggressive deportation campaign in Chicago.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell confirmed the so-called “no bill” by the grand jury at the urging of U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, who during a Wednesday hearing also dismissed the charges leveled against Laugh Factory night manager Nathan Griffin.
The judge dismissed the charges “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could continue to pursue the case against Griffin. However, Snell said they had no intention of doing so.
It’s considered extremely rare for federal prosecutors in Chicago to be turned down by a grand jury. One of Holleb Hotaling’s colleagues recently noted that, until the last few months, he’d only heard of it occurring once in the “early part of this century.”
Now at least three people who have faced federal charges tied to Operation Midway Blitz have been cleared by grand jurors. Charges have been dropped for various reasons against at least 13 people overall, while charges are still pending against another 18 known defendants.
No case has led to a conviction, so far.
Though grand juries are meant to be a check on overzealous prosecutors, they’re often viewed so cynically that it’s said a prosecutor could convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.
Snell initially moved to dismiss the charges against Griffin on Dec. 3, the deadline the feds had been given to secure an indictment. Holleb Hotaling then scheduled the Wednesday hearing, where she asked Snell to explain the move.
“I’ve never done one of these,” said Holleb Hotaling, who has been a magistrate judge since 2023. “It’s new for me.”
Snell initially told the judge that “an indictment was not returned.” But after some prodding by the judge, Snell confirmed the “no bill.”
After court, Griffin called his prosecution a “very turbulent and surreal” process.
“I have a clean record, so I’ve never had to go through anything like this before,” Griffin said of the chaotic arrest that was captured on video and shared widely on social media. “It was a very emotional, mentally challenging time. But it was really helpful that, you know, there were a lot of people that were on my side and supporting me.”
Griffin had been accused of closing a car door on the leg of a Border Patrol agent who had been trying to get out of a vehicle on Oct. 24 at North Broadway and West Belmont. While being taken into custody, Griffin allegedly told agents, “I didn’t assault anybody … Shutting a door isn’t a f—ing crime.”
An FBI special agent included, in a criminal complaint, a photo of what was described as “a small gouge and scrapes” on the agent’s right leg.
Earlier this fall, a grand jury also refused to indict Ray Collins and Jocelyne Robledo, who had been accused of assaulting officers during protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview in September. They had also been lawfully carrying loaded pistols.
When asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes in October to explain the circumstances in that dismissal, a prosecutor told the judge that there had been an additional recent “no bill” by a federal grand jury in Chicago.
It’s not clear whether that “no bill” related to Operation Midway Blitz.
A chart recently filed amid litigation about the deportation campaign shows that federal prosecutors in Chicago either issued tickets or declined to bring charges in response to about half of roughly 90 arrests made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection between Sept. 2 and Oct. 29.
Several others were still under investigation, according to the chart.