For Immediate Release Contact:
20 October 2026 312-342-9638
Broadview Pays $1 to Settle ICE Center Protester Lawsuit over Free Speech Claims
(Chicago, IL) – In October 2025, Chicago-based trial lawyer Robert Held filed suit against the Village of Broadview, claiming that, during a protest at the ICE processing center, the village’s limits on protest hours had violated his “free speech” rights.
But in April 2026, when Held attempted to settle the suit with the Village, there was nothing “free” about the suit. Held sought $10,000 for himself.
One year after filing his claim, Held got from Broadview $1.
Broadview’s Board of Trustees approved the lawsuit settlement at its regular meeting on Monday, October 19, 2026. The village also paid Held’s court costs of $2,376.
Held, who had been previously detained by federal agents during a protest, had not sued the federal government.
“It’s clear the plaintiff, who is an attorney, went to the protest site near the ICE facility and manufactured for himself a ticket from a Broadview police officer solely so he could bring this performative lawsuit and scrape out 15 minutes of fame and squeeze some money out of the Village of Broadview,” said Broadview General Counsel Michael Del Galdo. “Well, he got his 15 minutes and $1.”
Held’s suit argued that the Executive Order issued by Mayor Katrina Thompson violated the First Amendment by “imposing a blanket prohibition on protest for the majority of each day regardless of any demonstrable threat to public safety.
“Any Broadview resident who lived through Midway Blitz remembers the constant chaos of the clashes between protesters and ICE agents, the volleys of tear gas, mace, and rubber bullets being fired in a residential neighborhood at all hours of the day and night,” said Thompson. “My Executive Order sought to preserve some sense of normalcy and safety for my residents who live near the ICE facility while protecting the free-speech rights of protesters under extremely difficult conditions.”