Authorities in a suburb of Chicago are gathering video footage and additional evidence to forward to the Illinois attorney general’s office following an incident where a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle was involved in a car crash. The event escalated into a violent arrest, captured on video, showing an agent repeatedly striking a man in the head while he was restrained on the ground.

Immigration officials detained three individuals after a sedan struck the back of the U.S. Border Patrol vehicle around midday on Friday in Evanston. The situation quickly intensified, attracting a crowd of spectators.

Videos circulating on social media depict some bystanders attempting to intervene in the arrests. The footage shows federal agents using pepper spray, striking a man who approached them, and pointing a firearm at a woman who opened the door of the agent’s vehicle, where a detainee was held.

Recently, federal agents have increased their presence in Evanston as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy in the Chicago area. In response, some Evanston residents have formed “rapid response” teams, aiming to alert locals about federal agent sightings and hinder their movements through the community.

In one instance captured on video, an agent restraining a man on the ground appeared to punch him in the head while it was pressed against the pavement. The Department of Homeland Security later stated that the officer delivered what they termed “defensive strikes” after the man allegedly “grabbed the agent’s genitals and squeezed.”

Some witnesses claimed online that the agents caused the crash by suddenly braking in front of the sedan, though federal officials disputed that account. City leaders swiftly condemned the agents’ actions.

In a news conference shortly after the episode, Mayor Daniel Biss said immigration agents had “beaten people up” and “abducted them.”

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

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the agents were being “aggressively tailgated” and the sedan hit them as they tried to make a U-turn.

“A hostile crowd then surrounded agents and their vehicle, verbally abusing and spitting on them,” the agency said. “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. The agent delivered several defensive strikes to free himself.”

The mayor has urged more people to join the rapid response team, and city officials have passed ordinances declaring city property to be “No ICE Zones.” This week the Evanston Police Department began sending a supervisor to any reported immigration enforcement scene to document what happens and collect evidence for the Illinois attorney general’s Civil Rights Division, Police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said.

Glew said officers received calls from both federal agents and bystanders. A supervisor arrived after the arrests were made, and several people were treated by paramedics for exposure to pepper spray.

“When we responded those efforts were focused on stabilizing the situation and preventing further conflict between ICE agents and community members,” he said.

Allie Harned, a social worker at Chute Middle School, was part of the crowd that formed after the collision.

“This was awful. There were ICE agents and CBP agents pointing guns at community members, spraying pepper spray in the face of community members,” she said at the news conference.

“This was terrifying to community members,” Harned said. “It was horrifying to a student who happened to be in a car and witnessed it. It is not OK.”

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Evanston mayor’s name to Biss, not Bis.