Re: DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin’s January 27, 2026 Statement<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
CHICAGO \u2013 On January 21, 2026, the Brookfield Police Department charged off-duty ICE agent Adam Saracco with Class A misdemeanor battery for throwing 68-year-old attorney and former Air Force pilot, Robert Held, to the ground and attempting to steal his phone. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office recommended criminal charges. Saracco is scheduled to appear in court in March.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cThis is what accountability looks like,\u201d Held said of the charges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement calling those charges “gross” and claiming Saracco “acted to protect himself” from a “direct threat.” She described Held as a \u201cknown ICE agitator\u201d who \u201cstalked\u201d Saracco and attempted to \u201cdox\u201d him by filming his license plate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cEvery word of that is a lie,\u201d Held said about McLaughlin\u2019s statement. \u201cI didn\u2019t stalk anyone. What she calls \u2018malicious rhetoric,\u2019 I call documentation. What she calls \u2018agitation,\u2019 I call accountability. What she calls a \u2018threat,\u2019 a local police department and prosecutor call battery. McLaughlin knows the difference. She’s lying.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
On December 27, 2025, Held was standing on a public sidewalk filming Saracco when the officer charged across the parking lot, tackled him to the ground, and tried to rip his phone from his hands. Held called 911 immediately. Brookfield police responded, interviewed witnesses, and reviewed video evidence before bringing charges.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cI was not a threat to Saracco,\u201d Held said. \u201cI have an artificial hip and was calmly standing with a camera on a sidewalk. He is a federal agent who tried to silence me with violence.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Held says his message to other legal observers is that, \u201cYour right to record ICE in public is settled law. Your right to stand on a sidewalk with a camera is not a crime, no matter how many times Tricia McLaughlin says otherwise. I will not be silenced.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Robert Held, JD, MBA, is a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, a member of the Board of Governors for the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and an attorney with 30 years of experience. Since ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, Held has been a staple<\/a> at protests in support of civil rights<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Re: DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin’s January 27, 2026 Statement CHICAGO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[168,194],"class_list":["post-5093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-statements","tag-ice","tag-robert-held"],"yoast_head":"\n