By Diana Novak Jones
CHICAGO (Reuters) -A U.S. judge in Chicago on Friday ordered federal law enforcement officers involved in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city to wear body cameras, citing concerns they were not complying with a previous court order governing their interactions with protesters.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said federal officers trained and equipped with body-worn cameras must turn them on while conducting immigration enforcement activity, including during interactions with the public.
The new measure follows her earlier temporary restraining order requiring federal immigration officers to give warnings before using anti-riot weapons like tear gas and to wear visible identification.
Ellis also said she wants representatives from federal immigration agencies to appear at a hearing on Monday to answer her questions about how her order – in effect until November 6 – is being implemented.
At a hearing earlier on Thursday, the judge questioned U.S. Department of Justice attorneys about several incidents in Chicago in which she said federal immigration agents deployed tear gas without warning protesters and journalists nearby as required under an earlier order.
President Donald Trump’s ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz” deportation drive in Chicago has spurred mass arrests across the city and sparked widespread protests. In response to the protests, Trump sent hundreds of National Guard troops to Illinois to quell what his administration called unprecedented violence against federal law enforcement.
Protesters, journalists, and clergy sued Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials earlier this month, alleging they were deliberately targeted and brutalized during demonstrations. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring the administration’s conduct unconstitutional.
The lawsuit also seeks a court order preventing law enforcement officers from threatening arrest or using riot-control weapons – such as tear gas or rubber bullets – against individuals who do not pose a threat, or unless proper warnings are given.
Ellis entered a 14-day temporary restraining order on October 9, agreeing that the groups had put forward evidence that federal law enforcement had retaliated against them. The order barred federal law enforcement from using force or riot-control weapons against journalists, protesters and clergy unless they pose a threat and required the officers to wear visible identification.
Federal agents have deployed tear gas and pepper balls against residents in several high-profile incidents in the Chicago area in recent weeks, as well as firing their weapons in one incident in September that left a Mexican national dead.
State and city officials are challenging the Trump administration in court over the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois. In response to a lawsuit brought by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, another U.S. judge has entered a temporary restraining order barring the deployment of the troops that was bolstered by an appeals court on Thursday.
(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; additional reporting by Renee Hickman in Chicago; Editing by Stephen Coates)
