Prosecutors subpoena for video of clash between agents and public

A federal grand jury is investigating the chaos that ensued in Evanston after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested three citizens following an Oct. 31 collision between the agents’ SUV and a woman driving a red sedan, according to documents obtained through a records request.

The city of Evanston received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice on November 4, ordering its police department to release vehicle crash reports, body-worn camera videos and any other recordings involving federal law enforcement officers and the public on October 31. The subpoena also required the custodian of Evanston police records to testify before a grand jury Nov. 19 at the Dirksen federal courthouse.

No charges have been filed.

The subpoena, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn McCarthy, was addressed to “Custodian of Records, Evanston Police Department” and ordered this person to appear in federal court. It also gave the person the opportunity to submit the documents and video before then, which Evanston police chose to do.

Just before 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 6, Evanston Police Sgt. Tom Giese emailed FBI Special Agent Chris Ryan to tell him that Evanston Police Chief Schenita Stewart, company attorney Alexandra Ruggie and he would go to FBI headquarters on Roosevelt Road in Chicago that day to deliver the documents in person, according to documents obtained through an open records request.

Grand juries operate mostly in secrecy. In the Nov. 4 letter, McCarthy requested that the city not publicly disclose the subpoena because it could interfere with the investigation, but noted that it was not required to comply with his request.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the grand jury proceedings. Likewise, the city of Evanston declined to comment.

However, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, a congressional candidate in Illinois’ 9th District, said the City of Evanston has turned over the investigation into the traffic crash and the detention of the three citizens to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the Illinois Accountability Commission.

Evanston also released, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, body camera footage from a dozen police officers who responded to the traffic crash and subsequent protests at Oakton Street and Asbury Avenue. A review of records showed that the officers were not on hand to observe federal agents arresting three U.S. citizens, but arrived shortly afterward.

At the scene on Oct. 31, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol team leader told an Evanston police sergeant that federal agents in a Chevrolet Tahoe were trying to evade a red Acura that was following them.

The driver of the red Acura “hit us from behind with her car,” the team leader told the sergeant.

Multiple witnesses to the crash told Evanston police that the officer driving the Tahoe braked suddenly to cause a crash. Biss also made the same accusation.

Federal agents arrested the driver, as well as another man whom officers beat and dragged to the sidewalk, as well as Evanston resident Jennifer Moriarty. Moriarty spoke about his experience in federal custody in an interview with Biss in November.

Moriarty told the Pioneer Press on Monday that neither the FBI nor any other federal government entity had contacted her since she was detained in federal custody on October 31.

Paul Gowder, a professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, told the Pioneer Press that the subpoena is likely a fishing expedition for the federal government to seek evidence for its claims that protests against federal law enforcement officers are undisciplined, violent and warrant calling in the National Guard.

Gowder said the federal government has used its investigations to construct a narrative that protesters are rioters and, at the same time, portray Illinois, Chicago and other municipalities as uninterested in helping federal agents.

A possible target of the investigation could be detained citizens or local elected officials, he said.

A grand jury is not required to approve the government’s charges, Gowder said, referring to a case in Washington in which prosecutors failed to obtain a felony indictment against a man who was seen on camera throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement official, according to the AP.

“Frankly, I expect ordinary people to realize that this is an excessive measure, but they simply will not accept it,” he said.