A federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary restraining order Thursday, blocking federal agencies from using certain forceful tactics to suppress protests or prevent journalists from covering those protests.

Judge Sara L. Ellis issued that order in response to a First Amendment lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of several news organizations, along with individual protesters and clergy.

Those plaintiffs alleged that since federal agents were deployed in the Chicago area in September, “federal agents have shot, gassed, and detained individuals engaged in cherished and protected activities,” especially in suburban Broadview near an immigration processing center.

“Never in modern times has the federal government undermined bedrock constitutional protections on this scale or usurped states’

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