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The TRiiBE is partnering with indie investigative newsroom Unraveled Press and alt-weekly Chicago Reader to document confirmed sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents in the Chicago area.
Demonstrators are getting more familiar with their tactics. When the masked and unmasked federal agents surfaced on the rooftop of the red-brick building in suburban Broadview, some armed with pepper ball guns, protesters began to put on their protective gear — masks, goggles, helmets.
As federal agents, some with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and some with U.S. Border Patrol, approached the ICE facility’s main gate, some demonstrators moved in closer. Others stood further away; they know what’s coming.
The gate opened around 8:30 a.m., and a white cargo van inched out. The rooftop agents shot round pellets filled with chemical irritants into the crowd. More masked federal agents ran out and surrounded the van, pushing and shoving demonstrators who used their bodies to block the van’s forward motion.
Then came the tear gas.
The crowd retreated, coughing and reaching for their eyes. Those with heavy-duty protective gear kept pushing. Agents grabbed two of them, forced them to the ground, and rushed them inside the metal gates.
Federal agents did this in front of the news cameras and helicopters. They did this in front of elected officials and political hopefuls. They did this in a tucked-off industrial park off 25th Avenue, the main thoroughfare that connects this occupied corner of Broadview from the otherwise quiet suburb just 12 miles west of Chicago.
Rickey Hendon Jr., an activist and organizer, joined the demonstration at 8:00 a.m.
“This particular facility has been one of the worst that we’ve heard about for a long time. They have people sleeping on the floor here,” Hendon Jr. said. “They’re supposed to be here for 12 hours; sometimes they’re here for days and even weeks.”
Though he wasn’t hit by pepper balls, Hendon, Jr. said the agents were aiming directly at him and he got some tear gas in his throat.
“I did witness when they shot directly at protestors. There are people with busted lips. Some horrible things have happened,” Hendon Jr. said. “I’ve seen a lot already.”
One protester, who was dressed like the Marvel character Captain America, picked up a tear gas canister and lobbed it back at the agents. The protester was one of three people who were grabbed by federal agents during the Friday morning demonstration.
“They’re trying to show domination,” said Evanston Mayor Daniel, who is running for Congress. He sat on the ground across from the ICE facility, recovering from the tear gas. “They’re trying to terrify people out of standing up and they’re trying to, kind of, show this model of government where they attack and dominate us and we submit — and we’re just not going to do that. We can’t,” Biss added.
Other political leaders present during the action include Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Chicago Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward), who spoke on the actions of federal agents and the inhumane activity that has been documented by witnesses across Chicagoland.
“We have rapid response teams in every corner of the city. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot more [ICE] activity, so it’s not enough to only document. Gov. [JB] Pritzker has asked us to take photos to document, but they [federal agents] don’t respect that,” Sigho-Lopez said. “They intimidate documenters. They harass documenters like they’ve done in LA and D.C.”
Sigcho-Lopez is demanding that the ICE processing facility shut down; he is also demanding that lawmakers hold these federal agents accountable. He said what agents are doing is child endangerment when they leave children behind after detaining parents and guardians.
“This is a call for all elected officials, labor leaders, faith leaders … some of them [are here], but we need more,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “We cannot allow these facilities to operate when we know that they are violating constitutional rights and human rights.”
Stratton also spoke on the dangers of the ICE operations and how they have put people at risk.
“What I’ve seen is Illinoisans who have come out here to speak loud and clear that we don’t want ICE here in our communities, here in Chicago,” Stratton said. “Donald Trump said he was going after ‘the worst of the worst,’ but what’s happening is we’ve seen US citizens arrested. We’ve seen masked agents stuffing people into unmarked cars. You’re seeing people this morning being dragged for peacefully protesting. This is a time when we all need to raise our voices.”
Both Stratton and organizer Hendon Jr. spoke on the dangers that federal agents pose to the broader community.
“I grew up on the West Side of Chicago. So unfortunately, guns are something that I’ve been familiar with,” Hendon Jr. said. “Obviously, these weren’t lethal rounds, but it is incredibly discouraging to see people who are supposed to be our fellow Americans shooting rounds at people when we’re peacefully protesting on the public sidewalk.”
The National Lawyers Guild of Chicago said in a statement that federal agents “unleashed severe violence on people protesting at the Broadview detention facility” and “engaged in actions endangering people on the scene,” including nearly hitting a protester with a van and dragging multiple protesters across the street.
Reporters also witnessed an ICE agent on at least two occasions unholster his sidearm. Later in the afternoon, reporters witnessed top Border Patrol agent Greg Bovino at the scene. The protest outside the Broadview ICE facility is scheduled to continue this evening, with more weekly actions to come.
Stratton said that the operation is being used to strike fear into Americans and to make a case for Donald Trump to bring the National Guard to Chicago and throughout Illinois
“This is part of Donald Trump’s authoritarian playbook,” Stratton said. “Get people all in the streets and protesting because he’s doing this aggressive enforcement. And then, what he’s gonna say is, ‘I need to send in the National Guard.’ We will not normalize the military presence on American soil.”
Hendon Jr. pointed out that all immigrant communities are being targeted by ICE and sent a warning to those in the Black community.
“What I would say to Black people is this: Right now, [this is happening to] a different part of the brown community, but it can be us next,” Hendon Jr. said. “And there are a lot of Black people being deported unfairly as well — whether they be Haitian, African, it doesn’t matter. It’s going to impact everybody.”
