{"id":320244,"date":"2025-10-21T04:09:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T04:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/320244\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T04:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T04:09:28","slug":"immigration-officials-seek-to-justify-use-of-force-on-chicago-area-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/320244\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration officials seek to justify use of force on Chicago-area protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Article Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Immigration officials overseeing the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d were ordered to appear in Chicago federal court on Monday.<\/li>\n<li>The judge sought an explanation of why federal immigration agents have used tear gas and other crowd control tactics against protestors of the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement actions.<\/li>\n<li>S. District Judge Sara Ellis called the hearing after she told Trump administration lawyers last week she\u2019s \u201cnot blind\u201d to recent news reports that immigration agents used tactics like tear gas at least twice since she granted a temporary restraining order forbidding such tactics.<\/li>\n<li>The CBP and ICE officials told Ellis they believed each use of force, both before and after her Oct. 9 restraining order, was justified, and that no agents have been disciplined for use of force.<\/li>\n<li>Ahead of an early November hearing on whether to extend the restraining order to a preliminary injunction, the judge gave permission to depose CBP Commander Gregory Bovino.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<p>CHICAGO \u2014 Federal immigration enforcement officials overseeing the Trump administration\u2019s ongoing \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d in the Chicago area testified Monday that all uses of aggressive crowd control tactics on protesters in recent weeks have been justified.<\/p>\n<p>The officials, who were ordered to appear in court, told U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis that no agents have violated internal use-of-force policies in clashes with protesters, nor had any been disciplined for it. They also said agents\u2019 use of tear gas on members of the public was warranted in two incidents last week \u2014 despite the judge\u2019s Oct. 9 temporary restraining order forbidding the use of chemical irritants on demonstrators.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/news\/judge-grants-restraining-order-protecting-protesters-journalists-in-chicago-area-clashes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Judge grants restraining order protecting protesters, journalists in Chicago-area clashes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ellis questioned Customs and Border Patrol Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick for two hours. Harvick said spontaneous protests by members of the public who happen to witness immigration enforcement actions can quickly become dangerous for agents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have found that the longer we loiter on the scene and subjects come \u2014 if they\u2019re just protesting our presence, that\u2019s fine,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if others come who are assaultive, it gets more and more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellis\u2019 order prohibits immigration agents from using \u201criot control weapons\u201d like tear gas without giving at least two separate warnings loud enough for the crowd to hear and allowing for \u201creasonable time and opportunity for individuals to voluntarily comply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judge\u2019s temporary restraining order defines a crowd dispersal order as a federal agent\u2019s \u201clawful command \u2026 for all persons to leave a designated area when three or more persons are committing acts of disorderly conduct that are likely to cause substantial harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Profound concerns\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In an emergency hearing Thursday, Ellis told attorneys for the Trump administration that after seeing news about two separate incidents earlier in the week, she had \u201cprofound concerns\u201d that her order wasn\u2019t being followed.<\/p>\n<p>On both Oct. 12 and Oct. 14, CBP agents deployed tear gas on protesters after the immigration enforcement actions attracted crowds in neighborhoods on Chicago\u2019s Northwest Side and Southeast Side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not blind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Harvick said that on Oct. 12, residents linked arms to block CBP agents from arresting their neighbor, which Harvick described as \u201cactive resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were given lawful orders to get out of our way so we could depart and continue with our duties, which they disobeyed,\u201d he said. \u201cMultiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harvick said CBP\u2019s team lead at the scene made the call to deploy tear gas and that the crowd was warned to heed the agents\u2019 dispersal orders before the canister was thrown toward protesters. One member of the crowd threw the canister back toward agents, he said.<\/p>\n<p>When Ellis asked whether the protesters had thrown anything at the feds, Harvick said he was told objects were \u201cthrown at some point\u201d and CBP \u201cvehicles were banged on.\u201d According to <a href=\"https:\/\/blockclubchicago.org\/2025\/10\/13\/federal-agents-deploy-tear-gas-in-albany-park-as-neighbors-block-immigration-arrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reporting from Block Club Chicago<\/a>, the agents left shortly after.<\/p>\n<p>Harvick said his understanding of the incident relied on a discussion with that same team lead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you spoke with him, did you have any concern that the requirements of the TRO were not being followed?\u201d Ellis asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not, your honor,\u201d Harvick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you tell me why you believed it was appropriate in that instance to release CS (tear) gas?\u201d the judge asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo first of all, that scene was an enforcement action,\u201d Harvick said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a planned protest \u2026 If you\u2019re at site of a planned protest, you\u2019re equipped differently. You have helmet, a gas mask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a separated incident on Oct. 14, Harvick said two people suspected of being undocumented immigrants struck a CBP vehicle in their own car, then drove away. Agents then pursued the vehicle, ending in a car crash.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd that formed quickly after the crash grew violent, according to Harvick, throwing \u201ceggs, bricks, metal objects \u2026 I know one officer was struck in the head with an egg.\u201d He also said the tires were slashed on two CBP vehicles and the rear window of one was broken.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the crowd\u2019s negative response to immigration agents, Harvick said CBP needed the crowd to disperse as the accident was an active crime scene that needed to be preserved for investigation. Agents deployed tear gas three times because \u201cthe totality of circumstances\u201d meant \u201cit was becoming an unsafe environment\u201d for agents, Harvick said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Judge\u2019s tone more muted<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During the hours Ellis questioned Harvick and ICE Deputy Field Director Shawn Byers, the judge\u2019s tone was far more muted than her tenor with Department of Justice attorneys last week. During Thursday\u2019s emergency hearing, Ellis said, \u201cThe field director is going to explain to me why I am seeing images of tear gas being deployed and reading reports that there were no warnings given before it was deployed.\u201d She was similarly stern in a virtual hearing Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Ellis did become animated when she asked Harvick about an incident mentioned in a Chicago Tribune article published Sunday evening about Mt. Prospect residents interrupting a CBP operation. Just west of Mt. Prospect, in Rolling Meadows, a federal agent was seen pointing a weapon out of a truck window toward members of the public, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/10\/19\/immigration-raid-mount-prospect-neighbors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI guess what concerns me is an agent pointing a weapon at bystanders from an open window of a truck going by,\u201d the judge said. \u201cYou could understand how I might be concerned, right? That might be a use of force that is not commensurate with any threat that the agents are getting from people passing by.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellis also asked why immigration agents have often been photographed wearing bananas over their faces. After suggesting the fabric could mitigate tear gas, Harvick said it was to protect their identities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly, your honor, it\u2019s for doxing cases we\u2019ve experienced for agents or their families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Part of Ellis\u2019 Oct. 9 order requires immigration agents equipped with body cameras to have them turned on during enforcement activities. But Monday\u2019s hearing made clear that only CBP agents have body cameras; Byers told the judge that none of the ICE agents assigned to the Chicago area do. Under the Biden administration, Congress had started funding a program to equip all ICE agents with body-worn cameras, but the effort stalled after only two of the nation\u2019s 25 field offices began using them, Byers testified.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Broadview clashes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ellis asked Byers to take her through some of the clashes between immigration agents and protesters outside of ICE\u2019s processing center in Broadview, which has been the scene of daily protests since Operation Midway Blitz began last month. Though attendance has been minimal on some days, when crowds have swelled, agents have deployed tear gas and pepper balls.<\/p>\n<p>Byers said he hasn\u2019t seen internal ICE reports about use of force on Broadview protesters, but he did challenge the \u201cversion of events circling on social media\u201d about the Rev. David Black <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/immigration\/2025\/09\/20\/photos-faith-leaders-protest-ice-activity-in-the-chicago-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">getting shot in the head with pepper balls on Sept 19<\/a>. Black is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that resulted in Ellis\u2019 TRO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you believe that the video or the photographs that have been distributed about that individual \u2026 that those images have been edited?\u201d the judge asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s not being shown is he was given multiple commands to remove himself from the property,\u201d Byers replied.<\/p>\n<p>He also said Oct. 3 was the last time agents deployed tear gas in Broadview.<\/p>\n<p>Ellis extended her temporary restraining order until Nov. 6, the day after a hearing to change the order to a preliminary injunction. Before then, the civil rights and media attorneys who filed the lawsuit will depose three more Department of Homeland Security officials, including CBP Commander Greg Bovino.<\/p>\n<p>Harvick told the judge unequivocally that that Bovino was in charge of Operation Midway Blitz. But Byers said ICE and CBP are \u201crunning parallel but independently\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSiloes would be the best way to describe it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/capitolnewsillinois.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Capitol News Illinois<\/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Article Summary Immigration officials overseeing the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d were ordered to appear in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":320245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[69509,960,327,9611,160514,11202,5410,5386,1818,160515,160516,7237,160517,14711,148124,160518,4352,160519,160520],"class_list":{"0":"post-320244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-broadview","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-congress","11":"tag-department-of-justice","12":"tag-federal-deployment","13":"tag-greg-bovino","14":"tag-ice","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-illinois","17":"tag-kyle-harvick","18":"tag-mt-prospect","19":"tag-protests","20":"tag-rev-david-black","21":"tag-rolling-meadows","22":"tag-sara-ellis","23":"tag-shawn-byers","24":"tag-trump-administration","25":"tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security-dhs","26":"tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115410197892138773","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}