Police use teargas and pepper balls to break up Chicago Ice protest | US immigration
Federal law enforcement agents used gaps and pepper bullets to disperse a group of around 100 demonstrators, including two Democratic candidates in the Congress, during a series of clashes early in the morning outside an immigration and customs application (ICE) in Chicago on Friday.
The demonstrators had attempted to prevent a certain number of government SUVs from entering and leaving the establishment, which has become an operational center and a place of detention during a repression of immigration to the Democratic city nicknamed “Operation Midway Blitz”.
At least two demonstrators were arrested during the samples, who saw masked internal security agents, dressed in riot equipment, fireball balls on demonstrators on a roof and launched several gap cartridges. An agent stood with what seemed to be a wireless firearm. The installation is bordered by razor wire and its windows are on board with plywood.
Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for the ninth district of the Congress of Illinois, had sat down an entry of the establishment, alongside dozens of other demonstrators, before Teargas was launched in the crowd. Earlier in the morning, it was pushed to the ground by a masked agent while a group of vehicles entered the installation.
She described episodes as a “violent abuse of power” in a later article on social networks, adding: “It is still nothing compared to what they do to immigrant communities.”
The Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, Juliana Stratton, a favorite of the race for the American Senate next year, was also present earlier during the demonstration, although he left before the agents of the law enforcement deployed.
“The demonstrators presented themselves today with handmade signs and mobile phones. They sang, prayed, prayed and connected weapons to defend their neighbors and denounce the cruelty that occurs in the BroadView facilities of Ice and through Illinois,” Stratton said in a press release.
“The fact that DHS has responded with tear gas and throwing demonstrators on the pavement tells you everything you need to know – it is not security. It is fear, control and attempted Trump administration to intimidate Illinoisans in silence. We will never be silent.”
Bushra Amiwala, another candidate for the ninth district of the Illinois Congress, was also present when agents fired tear gas.
“There was no justification for using such violence against peaceful demonstrators,” she said. “What happened in BroadView today is an affront to our democracy.”
The demonstrators sang the name of the Silverio Villegas González, a father of two 38 -year -olds who was killed by an immigration agent during a traffic stop in the Chicago region last Friday.
Earlier in the morning, agents arrested a demonstrator after a group flew from the establishment to escort another vehicle. The demonstrator was dragged inside by two masked agents after being slammed on the ground and pinned on the ground.
The demonstration occurs while the application of immigration to Chicago has accelerated after the city was targeted by the administration of Donald Trump in a continuous repression involving democratic cities. Although Trump did not send the National Guard to Chicago, as he did to Washington DC and Los Angeles, California, the city has seen a wave of ice raids in several districts.
