Chicago police officers have started collecting videos and other evidence to send to the Illinois Prosecutor's Office following a violent encounter between Border Patrol agents in Evanston and a crowd.
According to the Associated Press agency, the events that led to this police action took place last Friday when a sedan rear-ended the Border Patrol vehicle. Immigration agents arrested three individuals after the car incident, attracting a crowd of onlookers. Tension quickly escalated, as shown in videos posted on social media, where several bystanders intervened to interfere with the arrests.
The footage now being collected by the police shows federal agents using tear gas, aiming a weapon at a woman who opened the door of the vehicle where one of the detainees was, or one of them repeatedly hitting a man on the head when he was already immobilized on the ground. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that the latter agent acted in self-defense.
The police explained that they received calls from both federal agents and passersby. A supervisor arrived after the arrests were made, while several people were being treated by paramedics for exposure to tear gas. "When we responded, those efforts focused on stabilizing the situation and preventing further conflicts between immigration agents and community members," the officers explained.
Municipal authorities quickly condemned the actions of the agents. During a press conference following the events, Mayor Daniel Biss explained that immigration agents had beaten and even "kidnapped" several individuals. "It's an outrage. Our message to ICE is simple: Get out of Evanston," he stated, referring to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The mayor has urged more people to join "rapid response teams," and municipal authorities have approved ordinances establishing "ICE-Free Zones."
The situation stems from the deployment of federal agents in Evanston for the enforcement of President Donald Trump's immigration law in the Chicago region. In response, some citizens have formed the aforementioned "rapid response teams" to warn residents when federal agents are spotted and even to slow down agents moving through the region.
Different versions of this latest incident include those of some witnesses who alleged that the agents caused the crash by suddenly braking in front of the sedan, although federal officials have denied that version. The Department of Homeland Security stated in a release that the agents were being "aggressively harassed," and the sedan hit them as they attempted a U-turn. "A hostile crowd then surrounded the agents and their vehicle, verbally assaulting and spitting at them," statements collected by the AP agency read. "One physically assaulted a Border Patrol agent and kicked an agent. While being arrested, he grabbed the agent's genitals and squeezed. The agent delivered several defensive strikes to free himself," they added regarding the agent who hit a man when he was already detained.
The Evanston Police Department has this week assigned a supervisor to any reported scene of immigration law enforcement to document what happens and gather evidence for the Illinois Attorney General's Civil Rights Division.