In anti-ICE protest, Illinois Democrats tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed by federal agents

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By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO (Reuters) – In a chaotic scene at an immigration detention facility in the Chicago suburbs, Illinois Democratic candidates running for Congress said they were tear-gassed, shot with pepper balls and shoved to the ground by federal agents on Friday while protesting against President Donald Trump’s immigration surge into the city. 

Since a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids began earlier this month, protesters have gathered outside the facility in Broadview, Illinois, in mostly peaceful demonstrations. But the standoff with ICE agents sharply escalated on Friday, with agents body-slamming protesters, firing tear gas and releasing pepper balls that coated protesters in a cloud of white powder. 

Kat Abughazaleh, a Democratic congressional candidate, said she was tear-gassed and shoved twice by federal agents while sitting down with other protesters to block vehicle access to the facility on Friday morning. Abughazaleh posted footage on social media that showed heavily armed agents lifting her and throwing her onto the ground, which she said injured her hand and left her with large bruises on her right side.

“It was painful, but it could have been worse,” she said. 

Two large-scale immigration enforcement operations that began in early September have been sharply criticized by top Illinois officials, including Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

In a statement following the protests, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that “rioters assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property.” 

Three people were arrested, the agency said.

In a separate incident on Thursday, Democratic politicians in New York were arrested during a protest at a building used by ICE.

Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston, an affluent Chicago suburb, who is also running for Congress, said he was also hit by tear gas while protesting with dozens of others outside the facility. 

“I was totally unable to breathe and eventually found myself stumbling over on the ground trying to regain my breath,” he said.

A team of volunteer medics washed the tear gas off his face, guided him into a recovery pose to help him breathe easier and advised him on how to safely handle his contaminated clothes, he said.

One protester, in swim goggles, an N95 mask and a T-shirt that said “Vote,” carried an American flag and a sign that in recent weeks has appeared on front lawns and apartment windows across the third-largest city in the United States that read: “Hands off Chicago.”

(Reporting by Heather Schlitz. Additional reporting by Jim Vondruska in Broadview, Illinois. Editing by Emily Schmall and Aurora Ellis)