Weekend Quotables
Delaney Hall protesters face down ICE in New Jersey after Broadview 6 win big legal battle in Chicago.
Protesters have gathered for days outside the privately owned, 1,000-bed Delaney Hall facility, where inhumane conditions have been alleged for months.
Some of the detainees’ lawyers said tensions first escalated over Memorial Day weekend when hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest spoiled food and wretched conditions.
What’s happening outside Delaney Hall isn’t an isolated eruption. It’s the same pressure point we saw in Chicago and then again in Minneapolis. And if you want to understand what happens when ICE protests are met with prosecutorial overreach, you don’t have to look to New Jersey. You can listen to the Broadview Six defendants tell their stories on Hitting Left radio this week.
The scenes in Newark — riot shields, curfews, detainees on hunger strike — feel like a new chapter. But the story isn’t new. Chicago already lived through the federal version of this script, which ended with a big legal victory for the people when the case collapsed because of prosecutorial misconduct inside Andrew Boutros’ U.S. Attorney’s Office, including improper grand‑jury behavior, redactions that hid misconduct from the judge, and allegations that Boutros himself had personal contact with the grand jury — a major breach of protocol.
The defendants are largely involved in Democratic politics in Chicago. But now their lawyers say they might flip the script and apply for relief under Trump’s new “anti-weaponization fund.”
“You want an example of weaponization?” Christopher Parente, one of their defense attorneys, told reporters after the charges were dropped on May 21. “You’ve got prosecutors going into the grand jury targeting political candidates and political figures improperly. These guys should be Exhibit 1.”
Weekend Quotables
Broadview Six defendant, Michael Rabbitt
Moments after the Broadview case fell apart on May 21, Rabbitt called on (federal prosecutor) Boutros to resign. That call has since been joined by Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, the Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 9th congressional district, and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.
“I think while Boutros resigning or being removed is something that needs to happen, there needs to be further accountability beyond him,” Rabbitt said. “I would love to see congressional hearings.” — Chicago Sun-Times
Michael Rabbit and fellow Broadview 6 defendant Joselyn Walsh, will be my guests on Hitting Left this Friday, June 5, from 11-Noon CDT on WLPN 105.5 FM in Chicago and streaming live at lumpenradion.com.
Conan O’Brien at Harvard
While he joked about “Justice Department spies” being in attendance, he also defended international students — which the Trump administration has attempted to block Harvard from hosting — and criticized what he described as a broader erosion of compassion in American public life.
“No university in our nation has produced more Nobel laureates or white collar criminals… so whether you choose good or evil, know that you are among the very best.” — Commencement Address
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga)
“The Mar‑a‑Lago mafia has taken American corruption to spectacular new heights. But the rot runs deeper than Donald Trump. American politics is coin‑operated — money goes in, favors come out — and the wealthiest actors buy an ever‑greater share of power while ordinary citizens are treated with contempt.” — Guardian
Robert De Niro on Donald Trump
“He’s a punk. He’s a dog. He’s a pig. He’s a con. A bullshit artist. A mutt who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Doesn’t do his homework. Doesn’t care. Doesn’t pay his taxes. He’s an idiot. He’s a national disaster. He’s an embarrassment to this country.” — Genius Tech
Hegseth on Targeting China
Too many self-proclaimed China experts naively bought into the idea of U.S. disengagement from Asia. The exact opposite is unfolding. Every major conflict right now ultimately targets China. Striking Venezuela and Iran is about choking Beijing’s energy lifeline. — Shangri-La Conference
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
In the streets of New York, war criminals like Amichai Eliyahu, Minister of Heritage, or Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance and colonial governor of the West Bank, paraded on Sunday as heroes on “Israel Day.”
Smotrich, an architect of annexationist “Greater Israel” politics, has said that preventing humanitarian aid so that two million Gazans “die of hunger” might be “justified and moral,” defined “victory” as Gaza “completely destroyed” with its residents pushed out to other countries. He once helped organize Jerusalem’s anti‑LGBTQ “Beast Parade,” marching donkeys and goats while declaring the Pride march “worse than the acts of animals.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani decided not to participate, citing his longtime opposition to the Israeli government.
“I said on the campaign trail I would not be attending the parade, and I have made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mr. Mamdani said at a news conference last week focused on security preparations for the parade.
Thank you, Mayor.
I just had to include this hilarious but accurate Jon Stewart riff on Trump and his mastery of the Art of the Deal in his negotiations with Iran.
Enjoy,