CHICAGO — Federal immigration agents have again been accused of violating a judge’s restraining order during a fracas in the Old Irving Park neighborhood over the weekend where residents were tackled and tear gassed as children prepared for a Halloween parade.
The incident in the 3700 block of North Kildare Avenue, where agents chased a day laborer down the street, prompted a chaotic scene that “ruined what should have been an ordinary Saturday morning,” according to a court filing Monday by the plaintiffs in an ongoing federal lawsuit over “Operation Midway Blitz” crowd control tactics.
The filing stated that as neighbors came out to yell at the officers — including some still in their pajamas and one woman with her wet hair wrapped in a towel — the agents “unleashed violence,” tackling a 70-year-old man and two others and then deploying tear gas as they left the scene.
The actions violated U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis’ restraining order in several ways, the filing alleged, including by deploying chemical munitions without the required verbal warnings. Some of the agents also had no identifying information on their uniforms and used “unnecessary force” in tackling residents who posed no physical threat, the filing stated.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. In a statement over the weekend, DHS said Border Patrol agents were “surrounded and boxed in by a group of agitators” and that multiple lawful commands and verbal warnings were ignored.
“During the operation, two U.S. citizens were arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer,” the statement read. “To safely clear the area after multiple warnings and the crowd continuing to advance on them, Border Patrol had to deploy crowd control measures.”
No assault charges had been filed against anyone arrested as of Monday. The operation also resulted in the arrest of the day laborer, who DHS said was in the country illegally and has a previous arrest for assault.
The allegations were just the latest in a string of incidents in neighborhoods across the city and suburbs, and come a day before Border Control Cmdr. Greg Bovino, one of the leaders of the ongoing immigration-enforcement push, is set to appear before Ellis to answer questions about the tactics being used on the streets.
Ellis ordered Bovino into court last week after he was seen personally throwing tear gas canisters at a crowd of protesters in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. Bovino, meanwhile, has claimed he only deployed the gas after an angry mob was throwing objects at officers and a rock hit him in the head.
Over the weekend, another filing by the plaintiffs in the case accused Bovino of lying about being struck, saying the incident was being filmed from multiple angles and nothing had surfaced that backs up that assertion.
Bovino also gave an interview to a Spanish-language news outlet afterward where he was asked about Ellis’ order and allegedly said, “Did judge Ellis get hit in the head by a rock this morning? Maybe she needs to see what that’s like before she gives an order like that.”
“In that same interview discussed above, Defendant Bovino also stated, ‘I take my orders from the executive branch,’ suggesting disdain for this Court’s authority to enjoin his unlawful conduct,” the plaintiffs’ filing stated.
Bovino is scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where an overflow courtroom and special security measures are being taken to handle what is expected to be a large crowd of media and spectators.
In a statement last week, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said she “can think of nobody better to correct Judge Ellis’ deep misconceptions about its mission.”
Ellis has also ordered Bovino to sit for a five-hour sworn deposition later this week, but that interview will not be made public due to a protective order.
A full injunction hearing on the issue of tear gas and other tactics is expected to be held next month.
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