{"id":395512,"date":"2025-11-21T21:53:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T21:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/395512\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T21:53:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T21:53:19","slug":"ice-use-of-force-in-chicago-area-immigration-crackdown-outlined-in-judges-scathing-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/395512\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE use of force in Chicago-area immigration crackdown outlined in judge’s scathing opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 A judge\u2019s blistering 223-page opinion has offered a cache of striking new details from body camera footage about agents\u2019 use of force during a federal immigration crackdown<\/a> in the Chicago area<\/a> dubbed \u201cOperation Midway Blitz.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis\u2019 opinion issued Thursday recounts many high-profile clashes<\/a> between federal agents and protesters<\/a>, repeatedly using body camera footage to refute the federal government\u2019s narratives from court, use-of-force reports, filmed depositions and press releases. It describes scenes of agents launching tear gas without warning, aiming rubber rounds at reporters, tackling protesters and laughing as blood oozed from a demonstrator\u2019s ear \u2014 incidents Ellis says were flatly at odds with the government\u2019s own narratives.<\/p>\n

Ellis expressed surprise about federal officials pointing her to specific videos, which she later found showed agents violating her orders restricting the use of force.<\/p>\n

The opinion outlines Ellis\u2019 findings in issuing a preliminary injunction<\/a> earlier this month in response to a lawsuit<\/a> filed by news outlets and protesters who claimed federal officers used excessive force during an immigration crackdown<\/a> that has netted more than 3,000 arrests since September across the nation\u2019s third-largest city and its many suburbs. Among other things, Ellis\u2019 order restricted agents from using physical force and chemical agents like tear gas and pepper balls, unless necessary or to prevent an \u201can immediate threat.\u201d She said the current practices violated the constitutional rights of journalists and protesters.<\/p>\n

A federal appeals court<\/a> on Wednesday temporarily halted the order<\/a>, calling it \u201coverbroad\u201d and \u201ctoo prescriptive.\u201d But the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also cautioned against \u201coverreading\u201d its stay and said a quick appeal process could lead to a \u201cmore tailored and appropriate\u201d order.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.<\/p>\n


\n Follow on
\n \"WhatsApp\"\/
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called the 7th Circuit\u2019s ruling \u201ca win for the rule of law and for the safety of every law enforcement officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJudge Ellis\u2019 thoughts on 20th century poetry and Chief Bovino\u2019s conduct in the order are noted,\u201d McLaughlin said in a statement to The Associated Press. \u201cThey don\u2019t change the reality of the situation on the ground and at the appeals level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge says footage shows excessive force<\/p>\n

The opinion delineates the results of Ellis\u2019 review of extensive body-worn camera footage and testimony that she says reflected indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force as agents repeatedly used tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper balls and flashbangs without warnings or justification. It also described tense moments when Ellis says agents shot flash-bang grenades at the backs of protesters as they fled, kicked protesters on the ground, caused a car accident during a Halloween celebration, threatened to shoot residents while pointing guns at them, shot pepper balls at the heads of journalists and praying clergy members, and tackled protesters to the ground.<\/p>\n

The opinion accuses federal agents of not following Ellis\u2019 previous orders by using tear gas and other weapons on peaceful protesters, failing to give two explicit warnings before deploying munitions and not wearing clear identification.<\/p>\n

It also described agents\u2019 apparent delight as they lobbed tear gas canisters at protesters. One agent declared that \u201cWe\u2019re definitely gassing them when we leave. Just start throwing (expletive)\u201d and another said \u201cWe can (expletive) \u2019em up,\u201d according to body camera footage described in the opinion.<\/p>\n

Ellis also accused agents of \u201cactively attempting to rile up the protesters,\u201d making \u201cdismissive remarks\u201d and \u201claughing\u201d while firing munitions at protesters. She described agents who \u201claughed and made jokes about tear gassing protesters\u201d and were \u201cpushing people to the ground and then laughing about it, even as blood oozed from the ears of someone they pushed.\u201d In another instance, she described an agent saying \u201dNo one can hear you\u201d after tackling and arresting a reporter as he yelled that he was a journalist and sought out his colleague.<\/p>\n

Judge criticizes Border Patrol leader<\/p>\n

The judge also accused Greg Bovino, the senior U.S. Border Patrol official leading the immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, of being \u201cevasive\u201d and \u201coutright lying\u201d during his testimony, including by lying about being hit in the head with a rock during a protest in the predominantly Mexican American Chicago neighborhood of Little Village. Bovino repeatedly went back-and-forth between claiming he was hit with a rock before or after he fired tear gas at the crowd, according to the opinion.<\/p>\n

In one instance after another, Ellis used footage to dispute claims by agents, including that Bovino saw Latin Kings gang members take weapons out of their car in Little Village and that a protester threw a bicycle at an agent. Body-worn camera footage also revealed that an agent used the AI tool ChatGPT to write the narrative for a report based off just a \u201cbrief sentence about an encounter and several images,\u201d according to the opinion.<\/p>\n

Taken together, Ellis said the documentation showed the federal government\u2019s narrative was \u201csimply not credible,\u201d saying her review of the body camera footage supported plaintiffs\u2019 allegations by \u201cundermining all of Defendants\u2019 claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pride in Chicago<\/p>\n

Steeped in pride for Chicago, the judge\u2019s opinion painted an image of Chicago<\/a> far different from the portrayal of federal attorneys, who characterized it as a place \u201cransacked by rioters.\u201d Instead, Ellis proudly described neighbors showing up<\/a> for one another by \u201cstanding on the sidewalk to document law enforcement activities and protest against<\/a> immigration enforcement activities they believe to be unjust, or simply praying the Rosary to provide comfort and bear witness to those detained at the Broadview detention facility who are facing fear and uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis description of rapid response network members, neighborhood moms and dads<\/a>, Chicago Bears fans, people dressed in Halloween costumes, and the lawyer who lives on the block as professional agitators undermines the agents\u2019 credibility,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 A judge\u2019s blistering 223-page opinion has offered a cache of striking new details from body…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":395513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[960,356,57,11202,1819,1818,409,181121,50,80,402,2068,148124,10425,61,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-395512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-courts","11":"tag-general-news","12":"tag-greg-bovino","13":"tag-il-state-wire","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-immigration","16":"tag-local-news-for-apple","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","20":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","21":"tag-sara-ellis","22":"tag-tricia-mclaughlin","23":"tag-u-s-news","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115589913952424126","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395512","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=395512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}