A vehicular incident involving a U.S. Border Patrol car in a suburb of Chicago escalated dramatically into a filmed confrontation, as onlookers heckled the agents involved.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed Fox News Digital that the altercation erupted on Friday in Evanston, Illinois. The trigger was reportedly a civilian who aggressively followed a Border Patrol vehicle and allegedly assaulted an agent by grabbing his genitals. The situation quickly attracted a large and “hostile” crowd, turning the scene into chaos.

As federal agents moved to arrest the driver, tensions flared with the gathering onlookers, resulting in one or two additional arrests, according to a report by FOX 32 Chicago, which cited local police sources.

Video footage from the incident captures a dramatic scene where an agent is seen wrestling a suspect to the ground and repeatedly striking him. Meanwhile, bystanders can be heard shouting obscenities and attempting to interfere, with one individual trying to pull an agent away. In response, another officer is observed brandishing what seems to be pepper spray to disperse the crowd, as the suspect is heard claiming he cannot breathe during the scuffle.

This tense encounter occurred on October 31, 2025, in Evanston, Illinois, as federal agents detained a suspect.

According to DHS, the Border Patrol vehicle had been “aggressively tailgated by a red vehicle.” When agents attempted to make a U-turn, the sedan collided with their car. One of the suspects then “physically assaulted” an agent by kicking and targeting his groin, prompting the officer to deliver “defensive strikes.”

“A hostile crowd then surrounded agents and their vehicle and began verbally abusing them and spitting on them,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in a statement on Sunday. “One physically assaulted a Border Patrol agent and kicked an agent. As he was being arrested, he grabbed the [agent’s] genitals and squeezed them. As you know this is an extremely painful experience for most human beings and justifies certain responses, the agent delivered several defensive strikes to the agitator to free his genitals from the agitator’s vice.”

A federal agent points pepper spray at a crowd during a chaotic arrest on Oct. 31, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (Kerry Littel)

The arrest occurred amid heightened tensions in Evanston, where community members have established “rapid response” teams to monitor federal agents and alert residents when they are in the area.

In response to the incident, Mayor Daniel Biss called on more residents to join the city’s “rapid response” teams and noted that city officials have passed ordinances designating certain city properties as “No ICE Zones.”

Federal agents wrestling with a suspect during an arrest on Oct. 31, 2025, in Evanston, Ill. (Kerry Littel)

“I will continue to track the movement of federal agents in and around Evanston and ensure that the Evanston Police Department is responding in the appropriate fashion,” Biss said in a post on Facebook.

At a news conference shortly after the episode, Biss continued to condemn the actions of federal immigration agents, saying they had “assaulted Evanston residents, beaten people up, grabbed them,” and “abducted them.”

“It is an outrage,” Biss said. “Our message for ICE is simple: Get the hell out of Evanston.”