Arthur Maiorella for Block Club Chicago“Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told Bovino during a court hearing Tuesday morning. “They just don’t.”
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CHICAGO — A federal judge on Tuesday admonished the agent leading the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, saying she wants to receive daily reports from him after federal authorities failed to follow her previous order to curtail the use of riot-control weapons on peaceful protesters, journalists and bystanders.
“Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino during a court hearing Tuesday morning. “They just don’t. And you can’t use riot-control weapons against them.”
The judge was referring to developments over the weekend, when federal agents unleashed chemical irritants on Chicago residents for the fourth day in a row, including in Old Irving Park and Avondale, according to witnesses and rapid response teams.
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The incident in Old Irving Park happened just before dozens of costumed kids planned to march down the street in a Halloween parade.
Ellis pointed to reports of agents pushing a woman in Little Village to the ground and kneeling on her as an example of excessive force.
“This has been a consistent theme through all of the plaintiffs’ filings, is that there was no warning given” by immigration agents, Ellis said. If warnings were given, “there was no time to allow people to comply before the weapons were deployed.”
When Ellis asked Bovino about agents’ use of force in Little Village on Wednesday and Thursday, the Border Patrol chief neither defended nor denied their actions.
“Well, your honor, I believe that each situation is dependent on the situation. And, you know, I’d like to know more about what happened and the various activities before I say one thing or another. I don’t know all of the facts that were present there,” Bovino said.
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Ellis insisted to Bovino that every agent with body cameras should wear them in compliance with her order. Bovino said while the vast majority of Border Patrol agents have cameras — “99 percent” — the challenge is dispersing equipment to each agent.
Bovino said he doesn’t have a body camera nor has he received body camera training.
Ellis said he should have a camera by Friday.
“You’re in charge,” she said. “I suspect you can probably get one.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bovino said.
Ellis told Bovino that she wants to see him every day during the immigration operation so he can report to her on any incidents that occur.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Near the end of Tuesday’s hearing, attorneys for the plaintiffs brought up their request to modify the temporary restraining order so it bans the use of tear gas completely.
Ellis didn’t grant or deny the motion. Instead, she said she believes Bovino “understands where I’m coming from.”
“I don’t know that we’re going to see a whole lot of tear gas being deployed over the next week,” the judge said.
Federal officials have said agents used tear gas, pepper-spray bullets and other riot-control weapons in response to threats or violent attacks, but they offered little or no proof.
The Thursday incident started with Bovino and agents making stops at a local Home Depot and laundromat and detaining at least seven people, including two U.S. citizens who are staff members for a Chicago alderperson. The arrests sparked outcry from onlookers, leading to a tense standoff between agents and neighbors near the Discount Mall at 26th and Whipple streets.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said neighbors provoked Bovino and other agents by throwing objects at them and setting off fireworks in their direction. Bovino was hit in his head with a rock, McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said agents, including Bovino, issued multiple warnings before using tear gas on the crowd.
But the video does not show protesters throwing rocks or fireworks at agents, nor can agents be heard warning protesters before Bovino throws the canister at the crowd.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions from Block Club about the discrepancies between the agency’s statement and video of the incident.
Bovino’s court appearance was part of the latest hearing in a federal lawsuit filed this month on behalf of Block Club Chicago and other organizations over agents’ violent tactics against journalists and peaceful protesters outside of the Broadview ICE facility.
During questioning last week that spanned six hours, two top immigration officials — Shawn Byers, deputy field office director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Kevin Harvick, deputy incident command of Customs and Border Protection — defended their agents’ use of force and crowd control tactics. The agents were in immediate danger before they deployed chemical weapons, the officials said.
Since then, agents have continued to use tear gas and other violent tactics against neighbors in and around Chicago during or following immigration arrests.
El miércoles, federal agents used pepper spray on neighbors near a grocery store in Cicero; on Thursday, agents tear-gassed dozens of residents – including several high school students – near Little Village’s Discount Mall; on Friday, roughly 50 Lakeview neighbors were tear-gassed near a residential construction site; y on Saturday, agents deployed tear gas on civilians in Old Irving Park and Avondale, disrupting a Halloween parade for kids.
Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested in Chicago, Bovino told ABC7. That would be an average of about 60 arrests per day. But Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and ICE have not released detailed data, so independent verification of Bovino’s claim is difficult. In July, the latest month with available data, ICE made about six arrests per day across the entire state of Illinois, records show.
