Judge hands down critical review of federal immigration agents’ ‘unprecedented’ use of force

A federal judge has issued a blistering review of immigration agents’ use of force during “Operation Midway Blitz,” offering new insight into the aggressive deportation campaign that’s torn through Chicago area neighborhoods over recent months.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis’ found examples of agents lobbing tear gas into crowds of protesters while exclaiming ‘f— yea!”, slamming their brakes while being tailed to cause car accidents and using ChatGPT to write their reports.

The “mountains of evidence” undermined any claims that agents’ actions towards protesters, press and clergy had been “more than exemplary,” Ellis wrote.

While federal officials would like people to believe Chicago is overrun by violent rioters and agitators, to justify their “unprecedented swath of indiscriminate uses of force…That narrative simply is untrue,” Ellis added.

The 233-page opinion is the written version of her historic Nov. 6 order limiting agents’ use of force. That order has already been halted by a federal appeals court, finding it to be “overbroad” but promising a swift appeals process.

This marked the second time the appellate court has intervened in the case before Ellis, brought by media organizations such as the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Newspaper Guild, which represents journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times.

The case has served as a means for lawyers to challenge U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and fellow agents’ use of tear gas, pepper balls and other aggressive tactics.

A recent Sun-Times and WBEZ analysis found federal agents have been involved in eight car chases and used force in at least 76 incidents since their operation began in early September.

Ellis’ order walks through many of those flash point conflicts between agents and community members, including incidents in the Brighton Park, East Side and Little Village neighborhoods, as well as face-offs outside the Broadview ICE facility.

“Not credible”

Agents’ narrative of events was repeatedly contradicted by video and body-worn camera footage, making it “difficult, if not impossible, to believe” almost any evidence put forth by the federal government, Ellis wrote.

In one case, a border patrol agent testified protesters held shields with nails in them. Video evidence showed “some of those shields were merely pieces of cardboard,” and none had nails, Ellis wrote.

In Albany Park, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed a protester had thrown a bike at agents. Video footage showed it was the agent who grabbed the protesters bike and threw it to the side, according to Ellis.

One possible reason for the errors could be artificial intelligence. Ellis found in at least one instance, an agent asked ChatGPT to compile a narrative for an incident based on one sentence and a few images.

“To the extent that agents use ChatGPT to create their use of force reports, this further undermines their credibility and may explain the inaccuracy of these reports when viewed in light of the BWC footage,” Ellis wrote.

Ellis found Bovino’s entire three-day long deposition in this case to be “not credible.” Ellis said the border patrol boss either provided “cute” responses to questions or was “outright lying.”

When Bovino was shown videos of agents firing pepper balls at Rev. David Black, of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, he denied seeing projectiles hit his head.

When shown another video where he “obviously tackles” a protester, Bovino said it was the other person who’d used force against him, according to Ellis’ order.

In an incident in Little Village, which garnered national attention, Bovino claimed he was hit in the head by a rock, prompting him to deploy tear gas. It wasn’t until the final day of his deposition that he admitted he was “mistaken.”

The only object thrown near him that day was the tear gas canister protesters tossed back, Ellis found. As people fled that scene, Bovino rolled a second canister of tear gas towards them as other agents fired pepper balls and threw a flashbang grenade, according to the order.

Ellis also pushed back on Bovino’s claim that Latin King members were seen taking weapons out of cars, and positioning themselves on roofs as agents patrolled Little Village.

Bovino testified their “maroon hoodies,” signified they were “a potential assailant or street gang member that was making their way to the location that I was present.”

Footage showed only a few people wearing maroon that day, one of which was Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th). Ellis’ order also noted maroon is not a Latin King color.

Chaos in the neighborhoods

As immigration agents traversed the city wearing masks and military-style garb over the past weeks, chaotic scenes followed. Agents have arrested people without legal status and some U.S. citizens.

They have shot two people, one fatally. They’ve deployed flash-bang grenades and tear gas on residential blocks, enveloping neighbors young and old in clouds of noxious gas.

Ellis’ written opinion offered a new look into some of those events.

In early October, a crowd formed around agents driving near Funston Elementary School in Logan Square. A motorcycle parked in front of their car, and agents said other vehicles began to block them in.

One resident walked over to agents and tried to explain that those gathered were just “concerned neighbors,” the order said.

An agent then pulled out tear gas. Another agent responded; “no, no, no there’s too much pedestrians.”

Still the agent launched the canister without giving any order to disperse, Ellis found. A teacher who was outside at the time bolted back to the building yelling “Get all the kids inside!”

A day later, crowds converged on an intersection in Brighton Park after agents shot a woman they claimed was tailing their vehicle before ramming it. A DHS spokesperson originally accused Marimar Martinez, 30, and a male passenger accompanying her, of being “domestic terrorists.” This week, federal prosecutors dropped all charges against the pair.

At the impromptu protest in Brighton Park, body-worn camera showed an agent walking up to a protester and “forcibly throwing him to the ground”, Ellis wrote.

As the protester walked away an agent kicked him, then “violently tackled him to the ground again,” and knelt on his neck while placing him in cuffs. When the agent was asked about the arrest, a few minutes later, he said he was “assaulted by [the] protester,” the order said.

On Oct. 14, agents using a controversial “pursuit immobilization technique,” or PIT, maneuver caused a car to spin out and crash in the East Side neighborhood. As protesters began to gather, agents quickly made plans to deploy tear gas.

“I have a feeling I’m going to get to use this [tear gas] finally,” one agent said. “We’re definitely gassing them when we leave. Just start throwing s—.”

One agent cautioned they couldn’t deploy without reason: “Like if they’re just on the sides, that’s fine. But if they’re going to do s—, then we can f— ’em up.”

Questions remain about other notable incidents. Ellis has given the feds until Tuesday to turn over body camera footage of an incident in Little Village, where a man allegedly shot at agents.

On Thursday, a federal gun possession case was unsealed against a man matching the description the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had provided for the suspected shooter.

Hector Gomez, 45, faces a single count of possessing a firearm as an undocumented immigrant, in addition to charges he already faces in Cook County for the Nov. 8 arrest.

What’s next

Bovino and many of his agents left Chicago last week. They made a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina and are expected to head to New Orleans, Louisiana next, according to the Associated Press.

A Homeland Security source told the Chicago Sun-Times Bovino could return to the city in March with quadruple the number of agents. Making note of that reporting, Ellis scheduled a trial on a more permanent ruling for March 2.

Ellis’ order, which is now on hold, restricts agents from using “riot control weapons” against protesters or observers who pose no immediate threat, and without two warnings.

It also restricted the feds’ use of chokeholds, and required agents to display star or badge numbers “conspicuously” in “two separate places.”

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found it resembled a federal regulation and questioned whether plaintiffs had standing to sue the administration.

In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the stay “a win for the rule of law and for the safety of every law enforcement officer.”

But the panel, made up of Judges Michael Brennan, Frank Easterbrook and Michael Scudders also warned not to “overread” their order and promised quick action.

They’ve set a briefing schedule that lasts through Dec. 8. Oral arguments have not been scheduled.

Contributing: Jon Seidel