CHICAGO (WGN) — A new court filing in the case of the Chicago Headline Club versus the Department of Homeland Security alleges Border Patrol agents tossed tear gas on a crowd “for fun” and that top officials have been misleading concerning their use of force.
When “Operation Midway Blitz” started in September, it made headlines across the country.
Two months and 3,200 arrests later, the operation has also generated a flurry of litigation over the aggressive tactics used by Border Patrol agents. A federal lawsuit brought by the Chicago Headline Club against Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security is seeking an end to such tactics.
In a motion filed late Monday, lawyers for various media outlets asked a federal judge to stop what they say is the “widespread, intentional, and ongoing” violation of the United States Constitution.
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 that 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 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, Homeland Security 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 Lake View, 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.
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