Chicago-area mayor says federal agents teargassed him at a protest outside an ICE facility

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — A Democratic mayor running for Congress in Illinois was teargassed Friday morning during a small protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Chicago, he said.

At least one other person, who identified herself on social media as Kat Abughazaleh, a former journalist also running for Congress, landed on the ground during the encounter after she was pushed by a federal law enforcement agent in a camouflage uniform wearing a full face covering, sunglasses and a helmet, video by CNN affiliate WBBM shows.

Abughazaleh has been attending protests for three weeks, she told CNN after Friday’s incident, and learned last week people were being deported early in the morning.

So Abughazaleh and other protesters showed up earlier, she said.

“We stood in front of the van and they (an officer) came out and picked me up and threw me on the ground,” Abughazaleh said, adding weaponless protesters carrying signs were met with federal agents firing pepper balls, of which she was on the receiving end.

“I got shot all over my body,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m going to have a bruise up my side, but anything that we’re dealing with out here doesn’t hold a candle to … the people that are trapped in that facility are dealing with,” Abughazaleh told WBBM. “They aren’t supposed to be there for more than 12 hours. They’re being held for days or weeks at a time. We need to get it shut down.”

The facility in the village of Broadview has drawn small protests since its leaders got word in early September “a large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway” as part of the sweeping immigration agenda that helped secure a second term for President Donald Trump but most Americans oppose.

The Midway Blitz Operation has resulted in more than 400 arrests, Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, told The Associated Press in an interview. CNN has contacted ICE to confirm the number.

“We’re going to be conducting this operation until we feel that we’ve been successful,” Charles told AP, adding other agencies have helped federal agents in making the arrests. “There’s not an end date in sight.”

ICE previously said the operation resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people the agency described as criminal illegal aliens, including Tren de Aragua gang members and those with prior criminal histories.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said more than a hundred people the agency called “rioters” assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property, the agency said in a statement to CNN.

“Police under JB Pritzker’s sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer calls for assistance multiple times,” according to the statement.

So far, federal agents arrested three people involved in the morning protest, according to the agency, which said its officers are facing more assaults this year compared to last.

“Throughout the morning, vans have shown up to pick up and drop off rioters,” according to ICE. “This is an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement.”

“I’m back at the Broadview ICE facility where I was part of a protest just a few minutes ago,” Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss says in a video posted late Friday morning to his X account. “Not only did they come with weapons and violence, show of force and drive a van into us, but then they teargassed us, and I have to tell you, it was terrifying.

“It was impossible to breathe, and really, really scary,” he goes on. “But the point is: They are trying to intimidate us, to stop us from standing up and being a part of a nonviolent resistance, and we will not be intimidated.”

CNN has reached out to Biss’ office.

The Department of Homeland Security decried the protesters: “Desperate politicians want their 15 minutes of fame and they’re willing to do it off the backs of our law enforcement,” the agency posted to X on Friday morning atop a news broadcast video of a Chicago ICE protest. “They are putting them at further risk to get on TV, just to get a viral tweet. It’s pretty despicable.”

Recently, two ICE officers “had cars used as weapons against them,” the agency said.

“The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.

Protests outside the Broadview facility continued midday Friday, with a handful of demonstrators holding up signs and cellphones toward a fence topped with barbed wire, video from the scene shows. They are expected to continue through Friday evening, WBBM reported.

Evanston is a progressive stronghold and home to Northwestern University, about 15 miles north of Chicago’s Loop and some 30 miles from Broadview.

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CNN’s Caroll Alvarado contributed to this report.