Protesters rioted outside of a migrant processing center near Chicago, sparking clashes with federal law enforcement and drawing a rebuke from Homeland Security, which said local “sanctuary” politicians were sparking the mayhem.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in the middle of an operations surge in the Chicago area, and activists have vowed resistance.
Things boiled over Friday at the Broadview Processing Center, where Homeland Security used tear gas to try to disperse the crowd and protesters threw canisters back at ICE officers.
Homeland Security said rioters also assaulted officers, slashed tires and tried to shut down the entrance of the building. The department said vans were shuttling protesters to and from the scene to provide reinforcements.
Protesters, meanwhile, said ICE shot pepper balls at the crowd and reported several arrests.
In one incident caught on video, protesters were blocking the gate and used their bodies to try to stop an SUV from leaving. Camouflaged officers emerged to assist the vehicle and used gas canisters to create a corridor. A protester with a homemade shield grabbed a canister and flung it into the facility.
That person was taken to the ground by several officers, as was another protester who rushed at the scrum.
The vehicle eventually pushed into the crowd, inch by inch, until the protesters’ line broke and it pulled free.
“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end,” said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is going to get law enforcement killed. This violence against ICE must end.”
Homeland Security says assaults on ICE officers are now up 1000% compared to the previous year.
Resisting ICE has become a badge of honor for Democratic politicians.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that a Democratic candidate for a congressional seat in Illinois was among those at the protest, and said she was pushed to the ground by an ICE officer.
In New York City a few days earlier, Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested after showing up at a facility and saying he would not leave until he’d secured the release of migrants being detained there.
Ms. McLaughlin said the resulting mayhem led to dozens of arrests and the building went on lockdown after someone called in a bomb threat.
