Ryan Ottignon

@ryaninevanston.bsky.social

961 Followers 61 Following

"should take a long, hard look in the mirror," per CBP // investigating authority @thedailynu.bsky.social // tip or leak to me, see pinned

An Illinois lobbyist registration for Tom Suffredin
“There was the Evanston Police Department, and they came, and we thought, ‘Oh, good, they’re going to detain (federal agents) there,’” one eyewitness told The Daily near the crash site. EPD officers blocked traffic around the intersection and performed crowd control, sometimes in tandem with federal agents, the footage indicates. The body camera of EPD Cmdr. Gil Levy, who was a sergeant at the time, captures him telling protesters they were violating a municipal ordinance and state law by being in the roadway. It then shows him walking over to his police cruiser and speaking into the loudspeaker. “Anybody assaulting or threatening law enforcement is subject to arrest,” Levy said to the crowd, as captured on multiple officers’ body cameras. “Get out of the street and let the Evanston Police Department handle it.”
Illustration of a body camera on a black chestplate, with a red light on it. In the background is a minimal map with the text "Out of Bound" over it.
Hernandez said her grandmother and grandfather — also living in the family’s Evanston home — bring in some income through work, but the family depended primarily on Eugenio-Castro’s income from yard work. Mendoza estimated the family will need about $8,000 to pay for a lawyer.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Last updated May 24 at 2:30 p.m. Evanston resident Jesús Eugenio Castro was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday during an immigration check-in at the ICE Chicago Field Office, according to his family and community organizers. His wife, Aline Hernandez, and two young children were present at the appointment, where Hernandez said they received no explanation for Eugenio Castro’s detainment and allegedly were also told they might be deported. As of Saturday, Eugenio Castro is being held at the Christian County Jail in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, according to his family and the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. “I’m trying to stay positive because I want him to come back to us,” Hernandez said in Spanish. “Like the ladies here who come to help us tell me, I have to prepare for the best, but I also need to brace myself most times for the worst.” A 26-year-old 2nd Ward resident, Eugenio Castro works as a landscaper and is due for a court date at Chicago Immigration Court on June 1, prompting a flurry of action from local immigration activists and officials.
Almost 80% of proposed Housing4All amendments were by Ald. Kelly (1st) One square is one proposed amendment. Kelly has 50 alone and 1 with Ald. Davis (7th), who has 10 alone. Ald. Suffredin (6th) has 3. Source: Evanston City Council. Graphic by Ryan Ottignon
Many flights follow North Evanston airway to Chicago Executive Heatmap based on 652 flight tracks. Yellow shows the highest concentration of flights, while purple shows the lowest. (A heatmap of flight tracks over a map of Evanston. A bright line nicks the top of north Evanston.) Source: OpenSky Network. Graphic by Ryan Ottignon
The post has 1 repost, 3 likes, 42 quotes, and 50 comments
The face of Ed Maxa, a CBP agent with ID number NS 808. He was seen in Evanston on October 31 and in what is probably Chicago on December 8.
Agent Maxa Pepper Sprays Protester As Agent Donahue drove away, Evanston resident Frederick Goodwill was shouting at Agent Donahue’s passing SUV and saw Agent Donahue point at him.”xliii Another agent, Edward Maxa, immediately turned and shot Goodwill directly in the face with pepper spray from close range, without warning.xliv Available video shows Goodwill shouting at the passing SUV while leaning toward it, and apparent spittle leave his mouth that appears to fall far short of the departing vehicle.xlv Agent Maxa is then seen spraying Goodwill from close range while Goodwill is stepping away from him. When reviewing this incident at the December 18, 2025, hearing, Dr. Rohini Haar testified that it was a misuse of a chemical irritant: “One, they sprayed without any real threat present. This person is not obstructing anything or causing any harm. But two, he’s also spraying this poor gentleman in the face, which… can cause significant eye trauma and is completely unnecessary here.”xlvi Agent Maxa wrote in his report that Goodwill had approached Agent Donahue‘s vehicle and spat at him.xlvii Once Goodwill had already “moved away from the window,” Agent Maxa “immediately” sprayed Goodwill in the face.xlviii No other reason is otherwise given for the spray. Goodwill acknowledged that spit may have left his mouth when he was yelling “no pardons,” but denied trying to spit at anyone.xlix On Agent Donahue‘s BWC, a voice is heard yelling “no pardons!“ before Agent Donahue states, ”that mother f***er spit on me!”l Goodwill’s vision was impaired for days; a bystander took him into a nearby retirement home to flush his eyes before paramedics arrived.li
A ridership table split by line and (crucially) direction, with data up to 2014
Lincolnwood resident Muqtadar Ahmed, who attended the October town hall and asked the question that spurred Amiwala’s public commitment, said he was “super disappointed” by her failure to exit the primary. “If Bushra had dropped out and fully aligned and started to rally behind Kat, it would have potentially created additional momentum for people that stood on the sidelines,” Ahmed said.
Glenview resident Paige Fullman, who voted for Amiwala, said that Abughazaleh did not seem to be a popular second choice for 9th District voters. “I think she kind of hit a ceiling,” Fullman said. “And because of that, I don’t take issue with Bushra, one, not dropping out, or, two, allegedly going back on her word, because I don’t think you can compare Kat to Bushra.”
The “commitment” referenced was not formal. It stemmed from a yes-or-no question posed by moderators during a forum early last fall, asking whether a candidate would support another Democrat with similar values if their campaign had no viable path to victory. Bushra’s campaign did have a viable path to victory. She built a broad coalition of local grassroots supporters, faith communities and advocacy organizations that was unclaimed by other candidates in this race. It is therefore inappropriate to suggest that Bushra was obligated to withdraw. An Evanston RoundTable poll from February 24 shows that, among respondents who selected Bushra as their first choice, only 41% identified Kat Abughazaleh as their second choice. Daniel Biss and Laura Fine each received 17%, and Mike Simmons received 5%. These results do not support the claim that her withdrawal would have consolidated support behind any single candidate.
As part of Sunrise Chicago’s endorsement process, we directly asked all candidates being considered for an endorsement whether they would commit to dropping out and consolidating the progressive vote one month out from Election Day if they had little to no chance of winning the primary. Two of those candidates, Hoan Huynh and Bushra Amiwala, both of whom verbally affirmed their commitment to do so, failed to follow through. Both of the other candidates who expressed a commitment to progressive consolidation under the above conditions, Kat Abughazaleh and Daniel Biss, were correctly assessed to be frontrunners with a viable path to victory, and as such, neither met the criteria to fulfill the obligation they had agreed to. Sunrise Chicago did not inform or coordinate with the campaigns of either Abughazaleh or Biss regarding attempts to follow through on these commitments with Huynh or Amiwala.
In a set of 15-minute Zoom interviews hosted by a climate activist group over the summer, Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala and State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) both made a promise they did not keep. A member of the Sunrise Movement’s Chicago chapter posed a question to the Illinois’ 9th Congressional District contenders: If polling indicated they had little to no chance of winning the primary by a month before primary Election Day, would they commit to dropping out of the race to consolidate progressive support? Both said yes, Sunrise Chicago wrote in a March 18 statement to The Daily. Notes from those interviews reviewed by The Daily confirm its claims.
N203Z going from Waukegan to Detroit
CAUSE OF ACTION COUNT I: ARDLEIGH AND THE UNKNOWN PERSON(S) WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE COMMITTEES IN THE NAME OF ARDLEIGH VIOLATED 52 U.S.C. § 30122 28. The available information indicates that Ardleigh did not have the means to contribute $2.575 million to the Committees without other persons providing funds to the corporation for that purpose, such that these unknown other persons were, in fact, the true source(s) of the contribution.
A bunch of PACs registered to this same addresses with an occupant as the treasurer (blanked out)
FMF's million-dollar contrib
G2 Gaming's website with a... very colorful gambling animation in the background
A Google search for "Beal Properties bill silverstein," which brings up the website "Avoid Beal Properties."
Michael J. Sacks 4/27/2024, 1:20 AM Bit surprised to hear on trustees as I am usually in the progressive/liberal camp for that group and I admit to thinking that not being tough/tougher will end up hurting the school Michael Schill 4/27/2024, 1:27 AM Once we end this I'll explain why we have a much more limited set of choices than many think. It is very frustrating, but that is the nature of the situation. We have to play the cards we have right now. Sorry to be so cryptic. Michael J. Sacks 4/27/2024, 1:35 AM I have no knowledge. I would bet you don't have the police force capability and Biss and Schakowsky not full throated supporters and back up may not be there. I know Biss well. If the winds blow the wrong way he will throw you under the bus. No hesitation. Jan too. I would think you do have the ability to make sure that there are consequences for students and faculty and the idea that if they don't produce ID, don't take down tents, don't get rid of amplification they will be suspended or whatever will put a dent in the crowd. As for the professors out there like the guy from Medill my ask is that we just not hire assholes anymore. We knew he was a bad guy before he came over and we hired him anyway. Let's just try hard not to do that the next 5-10 years.
Spellman's 5 donations to UDP and AIPAC PAC
3. It was part of the corrupt endeavor that defendant TRI STATE obtained cash by negotiating checks made payable to fictitious individuals. TRI STATE used that cash to pay vendors, pay cash wages to employees, provide cash for the personal benefit of Individual A, and assist those vendors, employees, and Individual A, in understating their income on annual federal income tax returns. 4. It was further part of the corrupt endeavor that TRI STATE agreed to and did sell scrap metal to Business A. In return, TRI STATE received approximately 769 checks from Business A, all made payable to fictitious individuals in amounts less than $10,000. 5. It was further part of the corrupt endeavor that TRI STATE failed to record these sales or the receipt of funds from Business A on TRI STATE’s books, and failed to report the income it received on its annual federal income tax return (Form 1120).
ACN's UDP contribution for $1.32 million on Feb. 2
The super PACs' filings on the FEC
ALEX HARRISON: The problem with Northwestern in particular is that it is a very wealthy private school that largely draws in students from out of state. You know, I can tell you from my time at Northwestern not too long ago — you know, I’m from out of state and I was one of the only people that I knew at Northwestern who did register to vote in Illinois. And so I think that there’s actually a pretty limited pool of votes that Kat could gain from Northwestern, unless she were to energize people enough to change their voter registration to Illinois, which is pretty easy. And as far as any race that you would want to do it for is concerned, this is a pretty good one.
rottignon.01 Signal QR code
Biss at 34%, Fine at 25%, Kat at 18.5%
Candidate Name Votes % Daniel Biss (Democratic) 5,284 32.40% Justin Ford (Democratic) 78 0.48% Mike Simmons (Democratic) 473 2.90% Bushra Amiwala (Democratic) 842 5.16% Patricia A. Brown (Democratic) 145 0.89% Jeff Cohen (Democratic) 141 0.86% Laura Fine (Democratic) 4,427 27.14% Phil Andrew (Democratic) 1,581 9.69% Nick Pyati (Democratic) 18 0.11% Kat Abughazaleh (Democratic) 2,986 18.31% Sam Polan (Democratic) 51 0.31% Bethany Johnson (Democratic) 70 0.43% Howard Rosenblum (Democratic) 24 0.15% Hoan Huynh (Democratic) 162 0.99% Mark Arnold Fredrickson (Democratic) 27 0.17%
U.S. Representative, 9th District - DEM ( 10 of 119 precincts reported ) DEM - Daniel Biss 684 25.00% DEM - Justin Ford 25 0.91% DEM - Mike Simmons 270 9.87% DEM - Bushra Amiwala 154 5.63% DEM - Patricia A. Brown 39 1.43% DEM - Jeff Cohen 17 0.62% DEM - Laura Fine 786 28.73% DEM - Phil Andrew 100 3.65% DEM - Nick Pyati 6 0.22% DEM - Kat Abughazaleh 579 21.16% DEM - Sam Polan 7 0.26% DEM - Bethany Johnson 16 0.58% DEM - Howard Rosenblum 9 0.33% DEM - Hoan Huynh 37 1.35% DEM - Mark Arnold Fredrickson 7 0.26% Total 2,736
A map showing the above.
Filetime 2026-02-17 23:35:14 GMT
dan.splains post. In the post, which is headered by the text #Dansplaining, a frustrated person in a suit facepalms and sweats. Next to them is the text "'had an inappropriate romantic relationship...' cringe." Th caption is: Somebody's got some #dansplaining to do!
“In 2004, when Daniel was 26 and before he met his wife, Dr. Wachspress was a 20-year-old student in a course Daniel taught during his time as a postdoctoral instructor at the University of Chicago,” a Biss campaign spokesperson wrote in a Monday night statement to The Daily. “After the course ended, Daniel and Dr. Wachspress went on a handful of dates over the course of a few weeks. Daniel realized then, as he does now, that it was ill-advised, and he ended it.”
A choropleth map of young people, which is focused heavily around Northwestern and Chicago, including Loyola. Hotspots also in Wheeling Twp and Algonquin Twp.
The Illinois Senate race strongly echoes the industry's anti-Katie Porter spending in her 2024 California Senate campaign. While Porter had not been outspoken against crypto, her endorsement from and close association with Senator Elizabeth Warren was enough to summon $10 million in opposition spending. Stratton is also endorsed by Warren, and by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, whose decision to sign state-level crypto consumer protection bills branded him an enemy to the industry.
Men’s Basketball: In Purdue loss, Nick Martinelli’s swan song is a solo Photo of Nick Martinelli going to dap up a coach. Jonah McClure/The Daily Northwestern
A 24-hour report dated March 14, 2026 from Chicago Progressive Partnership disclosing two spends — $87,555 on a Media Placement supporting Amiwala, and $17,000 on a Media Production supporting Amiwala, making a total of $104,555.
Hi Ryan, We were recently made aware that Chicago Progressive Project, an AIPAC-funded group, placed an advertisement supporting Bushra. They are using Bushra’s name and legacy in the district to do toxic work. To be clear, Bushra has never engaged and will never engage with AIPAC or its affiliates. Regards, Elliott T. Parrish Operations Manager, Bushra for Congress
Total in 2025 donations: $46,500.00 Total in Illinois House races: $3,947,297.12 Total in Illinois races: $14,565,870.03
Abughazaleh’s support rapidly approaches Biss’, polls indicate (Abughazaleh's line is rapidly approaching Biss' from the bottom.) Methodology: Daily research based on internal, endorser-commissioned and independent polls. Margins of error calculated with a Z-score of 1.96. LOWESS trend lines calculated from weights of 15% for internal polls, 45% for endorser-commissioned polls and 100% for independent polls. Graphic by Ryan Ottignon
Only candidate listed is Abughazaleh, but IL-08 is also included.
Some other candidates who didn’t fill out the questionnaire additionally appear to have received inflated ratings, despite having historically voted against legislation favoring Stand With Crypto’s agenda. Krishnamoorthi, for instance, who led a 2022 Oversight Committee investigation into crypto fraud, shot from an “F” to a “B” between April and June 2024 despite eight out of 10 public statements and relevant legislative votes cited by Stand With Crypto being critical of the industry.
NBC 5 filing shows Bean will be mentioned in the ad
IL-09 candidate and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss's page, for one, showing that he filled out the questionnaire and thus received a rating of "strongly supports crypto."
Stand With Crypto's homepage. It features the standout text: "If you care about crypto, it's time to prove it."
“The latest poll shows Juliana surging and Raja losing ground, and suddenly millions in dark, MAGA aligned, super PAC money are flooding in. They think they can scare her. They think they can buy this seat. But no amount of dark money can hide a weak record on ICE,” said Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth. “No amount of corporate cash can drown out the people of Illinois. In fact, Raja should demand those ads be taken down and denounce that MAGA money. If he won't, that speaks louder than any smear ads that can run. There's a difference between building movements based on trust and just building war chests. Juliana knows that difference.”
Large pro-crypto congressional spends overshadowed by Stratton attack ad Nearly $2.7 million has been dumped into Illinois congressional advertising by pro-crypto PACs and executives. A circle plot, where the larger the circle is, the more money has been spent. The largest dots are U.S. Senate, followed by IL-07, followed by IL-02. Source: Daily research, based on Follow The Crypto • Graphic by Ryan Ottignon Only includes advertisements that have already aired. Reservations have also been bought for the 8th Congressional District.
Kelly media buy for ~90k yesterday
Madeiline McGrath's LinkedIn page in my search history, accessed 3/6/2026 at 5:04 PM.
From: Daniel Biss via JStreetPAC Subject: They’re spending $5 million to stop me Dear Talia, Let me start with something my opponent still hasn’t done: Telling voters who’s supporting my campaign. I’m Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston running to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, and JStreetPAC is backing me. They believe, as I do, that supporting Israeli security and supporting Palestinian rights are not contradictory – they go hand in hand. That position shouldn’t be controversial. But apparently, for AIPAC, it is. Now, they’re opposing me to send a message: Anyone who openly criticizes the far-right Israeli government – no matter what it does – can be pushed out of Democratic politics. Meanwhile, my opponent Laura Fine’s campaign is being boosted by a network of AIPAC-affiliated outside groups that refuse to tell voters where their money comes from. A new New York Times report this week confirmed that groups tied to AIPAC have already spent at least $10 million trying to influence several Democratic primaries in the Chicago area, including more than $5 million in this race alone. My opponent won’t tell you who supports her. Well, here’s who supports me: People who fight for diplomacy, human rights and a real path to peace. If you believe that voice shouldn’t be drowned out by millions in outside spending, I’m asking for your help today. Can you chip in to help us fight back? [Donate button] This race will say a lot about the kind of politics that wins in the Democratic Party. Will outside money enforce ideological purity – or will voters decide for themselves? I’m betting on the voters. Thanks for standing with me. — Daniel Biss [In small text:] Paid for by JStreetPAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
A report disclosing the commercial’s cost — more than $165,000 — shows CPP used the same media placement and production companies as other AIPAC-affiliated organizations, including one that has supported State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview). One such company, Tom King Communications, has only ever appeared on federal campaign disclosures linked to AIPAC.
A separate AIPAC-linked (in bold) group is set to target progressive activist Kat Abughazaleh, who predicts the Iran strikes will dominate the campaign’s closing stretch. “We will be talking about it very vocally and often because this is very much a topic on people’s minds,” she told your Playbook host.