The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other left-wing legal groups claimed in court Thursday that using crowd control gas was not justified to disperse a crowd allegedly throwing rocks and fireworks at law enforcement.
Protesters blocked immigration agents’ path on a road in Chicago, Illinois, on Thursday morning and began throwing hard objects until “chemical munitions” were used to repel them, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Friday X post. Lawyers argued law enforcement acted “without justification” in a court filing from their ongoing lawsuit against the Trump administration’s handling of anti-deportation protests.
The court motion referenced an image purportedly from the incident that appeared to show a Border Patrol official throwing a silver canister but did not mention any alleged violence against federal agents. The document also linked to 12 minutes of shaky video footage of a crowd confronting agents and calling them “terrorists” and “kidnappers.” Lawyers claimed the gas’ use violated an Oct. 17 court order from the protest case that prohibited law enforcement from using such methods against demonstrators in the Northern District of Illinois, with exceptions for when agents’ safety is in jeopardy.
“[We] wanted to bring it to the Court’s attention as soon as possible given the flagrancy of the apparent violation,” attorneys wrote Thursday, asking Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis to take any action she “deems proper.”
Protesters boxed in agents with a truck and then “shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks,” the DHS alleged. Throughout the incident, people continued advancing toward agents despite warnings that they would use crowd control munitions if they did not stop, according to the DHS. A Border Patrol official was hit in the head when they began throwing “rocks and other objects,” the agency said.
“Agents properly used their training,” the DHS said. “The use of chemical munitions was conducted in full accordance with CBP policy and was necessary to ensure the safety of both law enforcement and the public.”
Protesters, journalists and media groups such as the Illinois Press Association filed the ACLU-backed lawsuit against top federal officials Oct. 6, alleging that law enforcement agents have trampled on their First Amendment rights at protests and shown “a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians.”
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