Topline
A federal judge in Chicago said Thursday that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be required to wear body cameras during deployments in the city, according to multiple outlets, citing apparent violations of an order she issued last week that required agents to give warnings before using riot control weapons.
The temporary restraining order was expanded Thursday. (Photo by Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Key Facts
Judge Sara L. Ellis said she is “deeply concerned” with apparent violations of last week’s temporary restraining order, expanding it to require federal agents to wear body cameras.
Ellis also ordered Russell Hott, the director of ICE’s Chicago field office, to testify in court next week over multiple incidents between agents and protesters, according to ABC7 Chicago, saying he 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 out in the field.”
Ellis’ initial order placed limits on the use of riot control weapons and said the weapons could only be used after giving “at least two separate warnings when feasible at a sound level where the targeted individual(s) can reasonably hear it.”
The expansion of Ellis’ order comes after clashes between residents and federal agents at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, and in neighborhood streets in the Chicago area.
Justice Department attorney Sean Skedzielewski denied some of the allegations against agents, The New York Times reported, telling Ellis on Thursday agents gave warnings during a clash with protesters in Albany Park, a neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago.
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Surprising Fact
Ellis’ temporary restraining order included a provision barring federal agents from using riot control weapons on “religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.” The order was put in place after a video on social media showed ICE agents shooting a pastor in the head with pepper balls while he demonstrated outside of an ICE facility. The Rev. David Black, who is the minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, disputed a Department of Homeland Security claim that he was blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the facility. “There were no ICE vehicles attempting to leave the facility, and I was standing to the side in a gesture of prayer and praying verbally for the ICE officers and those detained inside,” Black told CNN.
Key Background
The Trump administration’s deportation mission in Chicago, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, began in September. Federal officials claimed at the start of October over 800 arrests were made in the Chicago area. Tensions have flared in the city’s streets and escalated between high-ranking officials. President Donald Trump said earlier this month Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker should be jailed for “failing to protect” ICE agents, though the governor responded to the president’s remarks by saying “I will not back down.” The Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago was also temporarily blocked this month, with a district court judge finding “no credible evidence” of a rebellion the Trump administration has claimed is taking place in Illinois. Around 500 National Guard members were sent to Illinois this month as part of a 60-day deployment the administration says is to support federal agents already on the ground. The troops remain in the region but have not been deployed. Trump has also had an attempt to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, blocked. The order blocking that deployment was extended Wednesday for another two weeks.
Further Reading
Trump Says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker And Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Should Be Jailed (Forbes)
Judge Blocks Trump’s Chicago National Guard Deployment For Two Weeks (Forbes)