The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Perry cites the cases dismissed against protesters and other TROs entered against ICE
"In the last 48 hours in 4 separate unrelated legal decisions from different neutral parties, they all cast significant doubt on DHS’s assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago."

— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) October 9, 2025

But it will begin in the courthouse.

"Not only did the judge say that that she didn't see a credible evidence of rebellion, she also said the Homeland Security Department's perception of events are unreliable, which is incredibly damaging," said anchor Anderson Cooper.

"Yeah, that's a stinging rebuke right there," agreed Honig, who frequently offers insight into Trump's legal controversies.

"So what this judge did is really dig in over the last several days and gather facts," he continued. "And the judge said the president's claim that it was necessary to deploy these troops in order to protect federal assets and federal resources was simply untrue, unverified and questionable. And the judge gave as one example. She said, the largest protest that we've had involved, 200 protesters, and there were 100 local cops. So you have a 2-to-1 ratio there. No one got hurt, no one got injured. So this judge has put a pause on what the president has done now."

"I do have to say, Anderson, all of this that's happening in Oregon, California, here in Illinois, it's brand new," Honig added. "We have no history on this. We have no prior case law because no president has ever tried to use this emergency law in this way. So we're learning history as we go."

This is where I would remind the assembled that when Trump & Co started suing to overturn the 2020 election, it looked grim until trial courts started throwing cases out for lack of evidence, and then it became “cool” to do that, and the avalanche ensued, burying the effort in a shit ton of rejection. Yes, two judges on a three judge 9th Circuit panel want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, but does the court en banc agree? And will the 7th Circuit follow the lead of the 9th, whatever that lead may be?

The trial courts are through giving the government the benefit of the doubt. That percolates up to the Circuit courts, eventually.