Invisible Institute

Months after José Abonce and Invisible Institute’s Maira Khwaja’s investigation into a massive federal immigration raid on a South Shore apartment building, eighteen residents filed a lawsuit with federal legal claims seeking accountability for the operation. The complaints allege that during Operation Midway Blitz, federal agents unlawfully stormed homes in the middle of the night, detained families and children at gunpoint, physically assaulted residents, and targeted Black and Latino tenants.

Originally published in the Chicago Tribune on April 29, 2026. You can also read the essay on the Chicago Tribune website. By Jamie Kalven On the night of June 5, 2025, Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera was fatally shot by her partner Officer Carlos Baker as they pursued a suspect into a Chatham apartment building. Questions about that night have persisted for more than 10 months.

Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson made national headlines after he shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home in July 2024 after she called police for help.

Jamie Kalven's four-part, 20,000-word article “Code of Silence” published in late 2016 exposed official indifference to the criminal activities of Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team of corrupt Chicago Police Department officers operating in Ida B. Wells public housing on the South Side of Chicago. Since then, Cook County has overturned 169 convictions linked to Watts–the largest mass exonerations in Cook County history.

There have been moments—in response to high profile human rights abuses by police and, on a worldwide scale, in response to the murder of George Floyd—when large numbers of people have experienced a collective expansion of their moral imaginations and have glimpsed how abusive policing shapes everyday life for some of their neighbors. We have not, however, been able to sustain and build upon intermittent awareness of that harsh reality.

Invisible Institute is embarking on the next stage of its work with young people under the leadership of Senior Editor Audrey Petty. This next phase builds on our Youth/Police Project and its dedication to the ongoing critical inquiry of young people, and to amplifying their concerns, their insights and their skills as interlocutors.

Apply to our Investigative Reporter role: Position: Investigative Reporter Reports to: Executive Director Application due: February 22nd, 2026 Salary: $82,900, full time, with benefits The Invisible Institute is hiring an investigative reporter to join our team and work alongside our staff to report on police abuse, state violence, and official secrecy in Chicago and beyond.

2021 Pulitzer Prize, National Reporting, “Mauled” (2020) 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Audio Reporting, “Somebody” (2020) 2024 Pulitzer Prize, Local Reporting, “Missing in Chicago” (2023) 2024 Pulitzer Prize, Audio Reporting, “You Didn’t See Nothin” (2023) This year we are marking our ten year anniversary with a two-part 10 Year Anniversary Bash! For this once in a decade moment, we have crafted an event that honors the relationships of the past, present, and future.

The University of Chicago is marking the 10th anniversary of the 2015 restatement by a faculty committee of the school’s commitment to free speech values known as the “Chicago Principles.” This celebration is a somber occasion, for intellectual freedom is under siege on multiple fronts, presenting higher education with challenges that are likely to test foundational values as never before. The U. of C.

Our Critical Conversations Series is a chance for us to collectively engage in a year-long exploration of urgent themes and ideas. In 2025, our inaugural year, we will collectively read Living in Data: A Citizen’s Guide to a Better Information Future by Jer Thorp and host three events exploring different aspects of the book. Each session will focus on a section of the book. Book sections and reflection questions will be sent out ahead of each discussion.