'10k if u take him down': Chicago man ordered 'hit' on ICE leader, prosecutors say Michael Loria, USA TODAY October 16, 2025 at 3:36 AM 0 CHICAGO – A native of Mexico and longtime city resident has been indicted after being accused of putting a bounty on the head of a top immigration enforcement off...
- - '10k if u take him down': Chicago man ordered 'hit' on ICE leader, prosecutors say
Michael Loria, USA TODAY October 16, 2025 at 3:36 AM
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CHICAGO – A native of Mexico and longtime city resident has been indicted after being accused of putting a bounty on the head of a top immigration enforcement official, according to court filings published Oct. 15.
Juan Espinoza Martinez aimed to have U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander at-Large Chief Gregory Bovino killed, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The agency shared screenshots of Snapchat messages the 37-year-old is suspected of sending that offered $2,000 for information on Bovino and "10k if u take him down."
"Depraved individuals like Juan Espinoza Martinez – who do not value human life and threaten law enforcement – do NOT belong in this country. We will not allow criminal gangs to put hits on U.S. government officials and our law enforcement officers," said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. "Thanks to ICE and our federal law enforcement partners, this thug is off our streets and behind bars. These attacks on our brave law enforcement officers must END."
Activists protest outside of an immigrant processing and detention center on Oct. 2, 2025 in Broadview, Ill.
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Activists protest outside of an immigrant processing and detention center on Oct. 2, 2025 in Broadview, Ill.
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1 / 16Chicago protests push back against increased federal immigration raidsA protester washes chemical irritant from his eyes after federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls outside of the Broadview ICE processing facility on Sept. 26, 2025. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement in Chicago.
Espinoza Martinez's attorney shot back in a statement, saying his client is a father of three, has lived in the U.S. for 30 years and has no criminal history.
"As a dedicated union member, Juan has consistently worked to provide for his family while contributing positively to the community; he even coaches his kids' sports teams," defense counsel Jonathan Bedi said in a statement. "Juan is innocent of these charges. Juan, his family, and supporters remain steadfast in their confidence in his innocence and his characters as a hardworking, law-abiding member of society."
A criminal complaint against Espinoza Martinez accused him of being a ranking Latin Kings gang member and of rallying other gang members to resist immigration enforcement agents, although the indictment does not include gang-related accusations. Bedi denied Espinoza Martinez had any gang affiliation.
Espinoza Martinez was arrested on Oct. 6 in Burr Ridge, Illinois, according to Homeland Security. According to court filings, he sent the Snapchat calling for Bovino's murder on Oct. 3.
The Chicago man is due back in court on Oct. 17 for an arraignment where he will hear the charges against him. He is expected to plead not guilty.
Snapchat gotcha: Feds are sending people to prison after snaps show gangs, guns, ammo
Federal agents and protesters speak through a fence outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., on Sept. 29, 2025. The facility is at the heart of President Donald Trump's Operation. Midway Blitz, an effort to crackdown on immigration enforcement in the Chicago area.Latest case to come out of Trump's Midway Blitz
The federal case out of the Northern District of Illinois is perhaps the most high-profile criminal case to be connected to President Donald Trump's Chicago-area immigration enforcement crackdown known as Operation Midway Blitz.
President Donald Trump has said the immigration enforcement crackdown is aimed at catching "the worst of the worst" criminal immigrants and Department of Homeland Security officials said on Oct. 8 that they had "arrested more than 1,500 illegal aliens − including criminal pedophiles, murderers, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers" in connection with the blitz.
USA TODAY has not been able to independently verify Homeland Security's arrests. Officials did not respond to requests for information.
Trump's blitz has also seen a wave of violence in the city. Immigration agents fatally shot a Mexican man in the suburbs; agents also shot and wounded a U.S. citizen on the South Side; scenes of agents teargassing anti-immigration enforcement protesters have also become almost commonplace.
White House officials have cited the violent scenes in and around Chicago as justification for bringing in the National Guard. U.S. District Judge April M. Perry put a stop to the deployment saying, among other things, that bringing in troops would "only add fuel to the fire" started by immigration enforcement agents.
More: Trump blitz upends life in Chicago
A demonstrator is detained as people protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025.Who is Chief Bovino?
Espinoza Martinez's supposed target, Bovino, is the driving force behind Trump's immigration crackdown around the country. He spearheaded enforcement in Los Angeles and has led enforcement in Illinois since Trump launched the blitz.
Bovino portrays himself as taking a hands-on approach to enforcement, including by participating in a raid on a Chicago South Side apartment building where agents rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters. He regularly celebrates catching criminal immigrants on social media.
In Chicago, his critics say Bovino's tactics have upended lives and led to the fatal shooting of a father-of-two.
According to a LinkedIn page connected to Bovino, he has been with the agency for around three decades.
Federal agents stand outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement processing center in Broadview, Illinois. The site has become the focus of Chicago-area protests against immigration enforcement.Homeland Security cases in Chicago
Espinoza Martinez's case is among several to come out of the Northern District of Illinois in connection with the blitz.
So far cases have not gone Trump's way.
Late on the evening of Oct. 14, Homeland Security was forced to take down a fence around an immigration enforcement facility in the Village of Broadview, a small community in the suburbs west of Chicago.
U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt, who ordered the fence removed, wrote that the reinforced gate "creates a quasi-federal zone where the Village's ability to respond to emergencies is hindered and only allows it to provide lifesaving services at the whims and fancies" of federal officials.
An immigration agency spokesperson called the Biden appointee an "activist judge" and said "without this barrier, the risk of chaos and injury skyrockets, making it harder to enforce the law and keep the peace."
Federal prosecutors have had little luck bringing cases against protesters whom Attorney General Pam Bondi called "violent agitators" and said would face "the strongest federal charges possible."At the time of Bondi's declaration, the U.S. Attorney's Office out of Chicago announced the arrest of people in connection with the protests. Four of the five cases have since been dismissed. A felony charge in the fifth case against 70-year-old Vietnam-era veteran Dana Briggs was downgraded to a misdemeanor.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago man put hit on top Border Patrol chief, prosecutors say
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