Katie Prout
@katieprout.bsky.social
features writer, Chicago Reader: harm reduction, homelessness, and chicago/rust belt history.
proud member, Reader Union
kprout@chicagoreader.com; signal katie.507
https://www.katieprout.com/
proud member, Reader Union
kprout@chicagoreader.com; signal katie.507
https://www.katieprout.com/
Pinned
Katie Prout
@katieprout.bsky.social
· Aug 21
After taking some time away to have a dang baby, I'm back to work at the Chicago Reader. Have a question or tip about the state of harm reduction, homelessness, and/or drugs in Chicago? Send me a line at kprout@chicagoreader.com. I also cover: cultural lore, ghosts of all kinds, & city characters.
“When Alex had his bedroom window open, I could hear him singing all the way from my own open window. He loved mandarin oranges and macaroni and cheese, and we agreed it was especially pleasing when all the food on our plates was orange.”
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
www.theverge.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:37 PM
“When Alex had his bedroom window open, I could hear him singing all the way from my own open window. He loved mandarin oranges and macaroni and cheese, and we agreed it was especially pleasing when all the food on our plates was orange.”
Removed my original repost of this because @peoplesfabric.com kindly pointed out that this incident happened Saturday & was police, not ICE. bsky.app/profile/peop...
January 27, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Removed my original repost of this because @peoplesfabric.com kindly pointed out that this incident happened Saturday & was police, not ICE. bsky.app/profile/peop...
Reposted by Katie Prout
“As of Feb. 1, people up to age 64 will have to work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to remain eligible for food assistance. The work rules also expanded to include people who are homeless, veterans and parents of teens 14 and older.”
January 27, 2026 at 6:24 PM
“As of Feb. 1, people up to age 64 will have to work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to remain eligible for food assistance. The work rules also expanded to include people who are homeless, veterans and parents of teens 14 and older.”
Reposted by Katie Prout
Crowd has filled up the corner now. At least 200+ people. Lots of unions including AFGE, NNU, CTU, SEIU, and more
January 27, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Crowd has filled up the corner now. At least 200+ people. Lots of unions including AFGE, NNU, CTU, SEIU, and more
Reposted by Katie Prout
"As veterans we know what warfare looks like and right now the United States is against in warfare against their own people"
January 27, 2026 at 6:15 PM
"As veterans we know what warfare looks like and right now the United States is against in warfare against their own people"
Reposted by Katie Prout
Now: Small but growing crowd assembling in front of the Jesse Brown VA in Chicago to rally in memory of Alex Pretti and to demand ICE out of everywhere
January 27, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Now: Small but growing crowd assembling in front of the Jesse Brown VA in Chicago to rally in memory of Alex Pretti and to demand ICE out of everywhere
Reposted by Katie Prout
So many people in the Twin Cities are physically and emotionally scarred by what has been happening there. Still, going out with a broken rib is remarkable. He must have been in severe pain and still decided to step in to help someone.
CNN reporting that a week before Alex Pretti was killed, 5 agents tackled him and he suffered a broken rib. CNN says he stopped his car after he saw ICE agents interacting with a family on foot and began to blow his whistle. Source tells CNN Pretti believed “That day he thought he was going to die”
January 27, 2026 at 5:52 PM
So many people in the Twin Cities are physically and emotionally scarred by what has been happening there. Still, going out with a broken rib is remarkable. He must have been in severe pain and still decided to step in to help someone.
This is an *extremely* important story. Food pantries and mutual aid are beautiful, critical things, but the need will be greater than they can meet. People across the country are going to be forced to choose between paying for food or paying rent.
New SNAP work rules leave unemployed Englewood man + others at risk. New work rules for the federal food assistance program start Feb. 1 in Illinois, with state estimating that as many as 400K residents could be pushed out @elviamalagon.bsky.social reports chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/01...
New SNAP work rules leave unemployed Englewood man and thousands of others at risk
The new work rules for the federal food assistance program start Feb. 1 in Illinois, with state officials estimating that as many as 400,000 residents could be pushed out of the program.
chicago.suntimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:51 PM
This is an *extremely* important story. Food pantries and mutual aid are beautiful, critical things, but the need will be greater than they can meet. People across the country are going to be forced to choose between paying for food or paying rent.
Reposted by Katie Prout
Marimar Martinez is so brave.
The woman who survived five gunshots from a Border Patrol agent in Chicago, only to be criminally charged and then cleared, now wants a judge’s permission to share records showing how the feds respond when agents use deadly force. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Woman shot by Border Patrol in Chicago asks judge to let her release evidence
Marimar Martinez is blocked from releasing evidence in her case by what's known as a "protective order." Though standard, her attorney says it's “become an albatross” around her neck and “keeps the en...
chicago.suntimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Marimar Martinez is so brave.
Reposted by Katie Prout
The only thing that would make this more of a Congressional Democratic proposal is if they figured out a way to means-test not being shot.
Dems coalescing around 5 restrictions on ICE, I'm told:
DHS required to cooperate with state probes (big)
CBP stays at border
warrants for arrests
IDs, bodycams
ICE out of churches, schools
"That package unites a lot of Dems," Sen Chris Murphy tells me on the pod:
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
DHS required to cooperate with state probes (big)
CBP stays at border
warrants for arrests
IDs, bodycams
ICE out of churches, schools
"That package unites a lot of Dems," Sen Chris Murphy tells me on the pod:
newrepublic.com/article/2057...
A Dem Senator’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Hits Home: “Breaking Point”
As Trump scrambles to contain the damage from the latest ICE horrors, Senator Chris Murphy offers a sharp indictment of Trump-ICE lawlessness—and explains how Dems can meet the urgency of the moment.
newrepublic.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:24 PM
The only thing that would make this more of a Congressional Democratic proposal is if they figured out a way to means-test not being shot.
Reposted by Katie Prout
There's apparently body cam footage of Alex's murder. Do people know this?
This lets you know that a demand for body cams is USELESS and in fact just a way to give more money to the killers.
This lets you know that a demand for body cams is USELESS and in fact just a way to give more money to the killers.
January 27, 2026 at 12:37 PM
There's apparently body cam footage of Alex's murder. Do people know this?
This lets you know that a demand for body cams is USELESS and in fact just a way to give more money to the killers.
This lets you know that a demand for body cams is USELESS and in fact just a way to give more money to the killers.
Reposted by Katie Prout
What's old is new again: "The fear that young people, particularly young, white girls, would be corrupted if the literature they read acknowledged the existence of sex, queer people, and/or pleasure, was deemed by the federal government to be a national issue."
What is a literary salon, if not a kiki? Govt book bans only attest to the power of queer lit. For my first review of 2026, I read Adam Morgan's debut, "A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature."
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
In A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls, Adam Morgan explores the biggest threat to American youth: books - Chicago Reader
Adam Morgan explores the trial of queer literary magazine publisher Margaret C. Anderson in 1921 on felony obscenity charges.
chicagoreader.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:05 PM
What's old is new again: "The fear that young people, particularly young, white girls, would be corrupted if the literature they read acknowledged the existence of sex, queer people, and/or pleasure, was deemed by the federal government to be a national issue."
What is a literary salon, if not a kiki? Govt book bans only attest to the power of queer lit. For my first review of 2026, I read Adam Morgan's debut, "A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature."
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
In A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls, Adam Morgan explores the biggest threat to American youth: books - Chicago Reader
Adam Morgan explores the trial of queer literary magazine publisher Margaret C. Anderson in 1921 on felony obscenity charges.
chicagoreader.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:04 PM
What is a literary salon, if not a kiki? Govt book bans only attest to the power of queer lit. For my first review of 2026, I read Adam Morgan's debut, "A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature."
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
Reposted by Katie Prout
On NPR on Friday, there was a story of a 4-year-old--an American citizen--who hasn't left her house since early December, not even to play in the yard. And her 8-year-old brother recently stopped going to school, too. Their father is undocumented, and the family doesn't want to risk him being taken.
January 26, 2026 at 3:47 AM
On NPR on Friday, there was a story of a 4-year-old--an American citizen--who hasn't left her house since early December, not even to play in the yard. And her 8-year-old brother recently stopped going to school, too. Their father is undocumented, and the family doesn't want to risk him being taken.
Pritzker is over on X talking about abolishing “Trump’s ICE” but not ICE itself:
January 26, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Pritzker is over on X talking about abolishing “Trump’s ICE” but not ICE itself:
Reposted by Katie Prout
chat is it progressive to spend $23 million to buy your police department three new helicopters
January 26, 2026 at 1:48 PM
chat is it progressive to spend $23 million to buy your police department three new helicopters
Reposted by Katie Prout
related
what if i told you chicago police spent $418,000 last year just on stickers and sirens and parts for their bikes during the dnc?
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
January 26, 2026 at 1:51 PM
related
Reposted by Katie Prout
Evening all,
Thank you to everyone who followed along with my coverage of this demonstration in Chicago today.
I love this work, but as an indie journo, for the moment, I'm pretty reliant on community support to do it.
Your support helps me to keep on reporting.
Thank you to everyone who followed along with my coverage of this demonstration in Chicago today.
I love this work, but as an indie journo, for the moment, I'm pretty reliant on community support to do it.
Your support helps me to keep on reporting.
January 26, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Evening all,
Thank you to everyone who followed along with my coverage of this demonstration in Chicago today.
I love this work, but as an indie journo, for the moment, I'm pretty reliant on community support to do it.
Your support helps me to keep on reporting.
Thank you to everyone who followed along with my coverage of this demonstration in Chicago today.
I love this work, but as an indie journo, for the moment, I'm pretty reliant on community support to do it.
Your support helps me to keep on reporting.
Reposted by Katie Prout
Good afternoon from downtown Chicago, where despite heavy snowfall, thousands have gathered for an anti-ICE/CBP demonstration in solidarity with the Twin Cities. More are still streaming in.
Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.
Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.
January 25, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Good afternoon from downtown Chicago, where despite heavy snowfall, thousands have gathered for an anti-ICE/CBP demonstration in solidarity with the Twin Cities. More are still streaming in.
Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.
Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.
Reposted by Katie Prout
Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:
January 25, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:
Praying to Her
January 25, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Praying to Her
Reposted by Katie Prout
Like so many others, @andral404.bsky.social risked his life and safety yesterday to document.
Would love to see some support sent *his way specifically* this morning: account.venmo.com/u/andresachavez
Would love to see some support sent *his way specifically* this morning: account.venmo.com/u/andresachavez
January 25, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Like so many others, @andral404.bsky.social risked his life and safety yesterday to document.
Would love to see some support sent *his way specifically* this morning: account.venmo.com/u/andresachavez
Would love to see some support sent *his way specifically* this morning: account.venmo.com/u/andresachavez
Reposted by Katie Prout
We still don't know the names of the ICE agents who killed Gonzàlez behind the wheel of his car outside Chicago in September.
They were unmasked in this BWC footage from Franklin Park police.
If you have any information at all about these men—please text us on Signal at unraveled.66
They were unmasked in this BWC footage from Franklin Park police.
If you have any information at all about these men—please text us on Signal at unraveled.66
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 PM
We still don't know the names of the ICE agents who killed Gonzàlez behind the wheel of his car outside Chicago in September.
They were unmasked in this BWC footage from Franklin Park police.
If you have any information at all about these men—please text us on Signal at unraveled.66
They were unmasked in this BWC footage from Franklin Park police.
If you have any information at all about these men—please text us on Signal at unraveled.66
Reposted by Katie Prout
The national response to Minneapolis has me revisiting the killing of Silverio González Villegas by ICE in Franklin Park, IL. I reported on it last fall. Worth remembering.
southsideweekly.com/a-tragic-hom...
southsideweekly.com/a-tragic-hom...
A Tragic Homecoming
After nearly two decades in Chicago, Silverio Villegas González returned to Michoacán in a coffin. His death at the hands of federal agents left two families divided by borders, shattered with grief, ...
southsideweekly.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:45 PM
The national response to Minneapolis has me revisiting the killing of Silverio González Villegas by ICE in Franklin Park, IL. I reported on it last fall. Worth remembering.
southsideweekly.com/a-tragic-hom...
southsideweekly.com/a-tragic-hom...