2025: The Green Hats [Year in Review]

By Dominic Guanzon

My first encounter with the National Lawyers Guild was during protests in The Loop amidst the 2024 DNC. As anti-genocide demonstrators were being kettled, tackled, and cuffed, protesters in black bloc stood by the paddy wagons to chant the local NLG legal hotline (872-465-4244).

Since then, I’ve been keen to keep an eye out for the legal observers (LOs), or the “green hats,” as some protesters have come to call them. I have witnessed their staple work in keeping track of law enforcement violations and protester arrests. On 9/19 alone, legal observers were rotating in and out to maintain a presence from around 5AM to 11PM.

It’s fascinating work, and as someone interested in documenting history, I admire their very practical, very focused niche. When the federal terror besieged us all during Operation Midway Blitz, the green hats pivoted to gas masks and green helmets, followed by winter weather gear. As someone on the ground, it provided some comfort to know they were looking out for my rights.

So when you see bright, neon green along the edges of a march, or sticking out of a tear gas cloud, know there’s someone with pen and paper, keeping score, and giving power to the rule of law, while it still means something.

Thank god for the green hats.

An LO (right) is stared down by an armed DHS-contracted security guard (left) during protests outside the Broadview ICE Staging Area/de facto detention center. 8/31. LINK TO ARTICLE

An LO discerns info from a protester that has just been struck by pepper balls outside the Broadview ICE facility. 9/19. LINK TO ARTICLE

LOs in goggles and respirators discern info from a protester, Levi Rolles aka “Spicy Jesus,” who by the end of the day would have a back littered with pepperball marks. Along the Harvard St approach to the Broadview ICE facility. 9/26.

An LO raises a scarf to their face to keep warm during an anti-ICE march in Little Village. 2/9. LINK TO ARTICLE

An LO watches the road, as a law enforcement vehicle watches the LO, in front of the Chicago FBI building during a demonstration. 11/9.

An LO counts the number of ICE agents with their pen during a multi-hour apprehension in a residential neighborhood in Elgin. 12/6. LINK TO ARTICLE

An LO asks a crowd for any information on protesters who were just arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility. 10/17.

LOs take photos of and collect riot munitions (tear gas canisters, baton rounds) after a multi-hour ICE apprehension in Elgin. 12/6. LINK TO ARTICLE

An LO (left) observes as protesters yell at federal agents leaving the Broadview ICE facility. Signs and graffiti include: “YOU ARE THE WARZONE,” STOP SEPARATING OUR FAMILIES PUTOS,” “ISP BOOT-LICKERS FASCISTS.” 10/24.

An LO takes notes within the designated protest area of the Broadview ICE facility, as CCSO sheriffs watch the zone. 11/21.

LOs in respirators and goggles watch protests a couple dozen feet from the Broadview ICE facility in the hot sun. 9/19. LINK TO ARTICLE

LOs in winter gear discuss observations within the designated protest zone of the Broadview ICE facility. 10/24.

An LO watches ongoing protests, as a US flag flies behind them within the designated protest zone of the Broadview ICE facility. 11/21.

An LO in a respirator and goggles receives information on arrests from a protester along the Harvard St approach to the Broadview ICE facility. 10/3. LINK TO ARTICLE

LOs in winter gear share a laugh within the designated protest zone of the Broadview ICE facility. 10/24.

Legal observers in personal protective equipment discuss ongoing protests at the Broadview ICE facility. An ISP car with its lights on sits behind them. One LO (right) has handwritten NLG markings on their helmet. 10/4.