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CHICAGO (WGN) — A recent legal filing in the ongoing case between the Chicago Headline Club and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims that Border Patrol agents used tear gas on a crowd “for fun” and accuses senior officials of providing misleading statements about their use of force policies.
Launched in September, “Operation Midway Blitz” grabbed national attention. However, with 3,200 arrests recorded over two months, the operation has become the center of numerous legal challenges concerning the aggressive methods employed by Border Patrol agents. The Chicago Headline Club has filed a federal lawsuit against the DHS and its Secretary, Kristi Noem, seeking to halt these practices.
In a motion submitted late Monday, attorneys representing various media organizations appealed to a federal judge to address what they describe as the “widespread, intentional, and ongoing” breach of the U.S. Constitution by these agents.
The allegations focus on agents operating in Chicago and its suburbs, accused of repeatedly employing excessive force on civilians. The court motion warns: “Without an injunction, defendants will continue to act as if they can use weapons of war to commit shocking acts of violence against civilians, protesters, press, clergy, bystanders, pregnant women, and children with impunity.”
Agents working in Chicago and the suburbs have been accused of repeatedly using excessive force against the public. The court motion states: “Without an injunction, defendants will continue to act as if they can use weapons of war to commit shocking acts of violence against civilians protesters, press, clergy, bystanders, pregnant women, children with impunity.”
Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino says agents have repeatedly faced violent crowds and have deployed gas and used physical force for their own safety as they carry out arrests of undocumented immigrants.
“Agents surrounded by violence, having rocks thrown at them, taking a rock to the eye, or the head. … I don’t want that to happen to anyone,” Bovino said.
But lawyers say Border Patrol agents are providing “accounts that are blatantly contradicted by objective evidence.”
During an incident in Little Village, agents said they were blocked in and prevented from leaving, and that Bovino was hit in the head with a rock. The motion, however, states that “agents were not prevented from leaving. Bovino provoked the violence.” The Border Patrol boss is seen on video tossing tear gas at the crowd.
In Albany Park, before gassing a crowd, DHS claimed that a protester “threw their bicycle at an agent.” But the motion says evidence will show “the truth is an agent picked up a bicycle from a protester and threw it not the other way around.”
The motion alleges that during an operation in Lakeview, in which tear gas was deployed on a residential street, the “defendants mocked protesters as gas was deployed.”
One agent yelled, “Throw another one.” Another agent yelled, “Throw it (tear gas) for fun.” But in an interview, Bovino said his agents have acted within the law.
“We’re going to use, just as we always have, the least amount of force necessary to affect the arrest or the mission,” Bovino said.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis has ordered agents against the use of tear gas and other “riot control” measures against non-violent people, and without clear warnings.