Executive Summary
- Charges were dismissed against Laugh Factory manager Nathan Griffin after a grand jury returned a “no bill.”
- Griffin was accused of assaulting a Border Patrol agent during a search for a lost body camera in October.
- Prosecutors have recently dropped charges in multiple cases stemming from “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago.
- Video evidence showed agents wrestling Griffin to the ground while bystanders disputed the arrest.
A federal judge dismissed assault charges on Wednesday against Nathan Griffin, a manager at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Chicago, after a grand jury declined to indict him in connection with a confrontation involving U.S. Border Patrol agents. The dismissal marks the conclusion of a case that began with an arrest outside the Lakeview venue in October.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling granted the dismissal after federal prosecutors revealed that the grand jury had returned a “no bill” in Griffin’s case. According to court proceedings, this decision signifies that the grand jurors did not find sufficient evidence to formally charge Griffin with forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal officer. Prosecutors had filed a motion to dismiss all charges the previous week but did not initially disclose the specific reasoning until the hearing.
Federal authorities had accused Griffin of assaulting a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent during an incident outside the comedy club. The criminal complaint alleged that Griffin forcibly closed a door on an agent’s leg while law enforcement personnel were searching for a body-worn camera believed to have been lost near Broadway and Belmont Avenue during a separate immigration enforcement action. The charging documents stated that the agent suffered “a small gouge and scrapes on his right leg” as a result of the door being closed.
Video footage posted to the Laugh Factory’s Instagram account showed agents wrestling Griffin to the ground while a Chicago police officer intervened to separate a bystander. In the recording, witnesses could be heard insisting that Griffin had not done anything wrong as he was handcuffed and placed into a vehicle. The dismissal of charges against Griffin follows a pattern of recent prosecutorial decisions regarding arrests made during “Operation Midway Blitz,” a federal law enforcement surge in the Northern District of Illinois.
According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, prosecutors are engaged in a continuous review process for cases arising from the operation. Charges have also been dropped recently against other individuals, including Marimar Martinez and Air Force veteran Dana Briggs, as authorities evaluate new facts to ensure the interests of justice are served.
Legal Procedural Analysis
The return of a “no bill” by a grand jury is a significant procedural development, indicating that the evidence presented by the prosecution failed to meet the probable cause threshold required for an indictment. This outcome, coupled with the U.S. Attorney’s office citing a continuous review of “Operation Midway Blitz” cases, suggests a systemic re-evaluation of the arrests made during the surge. The dismissal highlights the critical role of the grand jury as a check on prosecutorial power within the federal justice system. It is important to note that all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
