The creator of a Facebook group designed to allow Chicago residents to share information about sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and the creator of an app meant for the same purpose sued Trump Administration officials Wednesday for trying to suppress both speech mechanisms.
Attorney General
The lawsuit follows a similar one alleging free speech violations that was filed in DC federal court in December by the makers of an app called ICEBlock.
In Illinois, Facebook group creator Kassandra Rosado and Eyes Up designer Kreisau Group LLC sued for First Amendment violations. They’re requesting an injunction to stop the administration from continuing to coerce Facebook and Apple into suppressing the group and the app respectively, their suit said.
Rosado, a jewelry business owner, said she created the Facebook group “ICE Sightings—Chicagoland” in January 2025 and oversaw it until October 2025, when the platform disabled it. She said the goal of the group was to keep fellow business owners and friends better informed about how ICE was operating in Chicago and how the operations were affecting the community. Group membership quickly snowballed after reports of violent encounters in the fall of 2025, the complaint said.
Mark Hodges, the creator of Kreisau Group LLC, developed the Eyes Up act in 2025 as an online tool that users could use to record, store, and view videos of ICE officers committing potential civil rights violations, the complaint said.
The complaint alleged in the summer of 2025, Bondi and Noem began targeting speech related to where ICE was operating and framing the documentation of ICE agents as violence against the officers. The complaint pointed to a Fox news segment in July where Bondi said the developer of ICEBlock “better watch out” and that the app wasn’t protected speech.
“In making that remark, and in her other communications alleged in this complaint, Bondi spoke as the head of the Department of Justice, with the authority to direct investigations, enforcement actions, and prosecutions under federal criminal statutes,” the complaint said.
In early October, Apple removed ICEBlock and similar apps including the Eyes Up app, the complaint said. After removal, Bondi publicly boasted that Apple’s actions were in response to DOJ demands, the complaint said.
Soon after, Facebook disabled Rosado’s group, and Bondi “claimed credit” for the removal on social media and Noem affirmed that the group’s removal was due to DOJ actions, the complaint said.
“At no point have Bondi or Noem backtracked from their position that any involvement in ICE-tracking speech exposes an individual or business to criminal prosecution, nor from their demands that Apple and Facebook suppress such speech,” the complaint said.
Absent an injunction, the loss of speech will continue, the complaint said.
The DOJ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
The case is Rosado v. Bondi, N.D. Ill., No. 1:26-cv-01532, complaint filed 2/11/26.
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