Top Border Patrol official must appear daily before a Chicago judge amid use of force concerns. Here’s what you need to know

By Devan Cole, Bill Kirkos, Andy Rose, Rebekah Riess, Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — Top Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, who oversees the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Chicago area, came under the microscope of a federal judge Tuesday after she received reports federal agents were not following her order to limit aggressive tactics and warn protesters and journalists before using tear gas and less-lethal munitions.

US District Judge Sara Ellis told Bovino she wants to see him in person every evening for the next week so he can update her on “Operation Midway Blitz” and whether his agents are complying with her order.

The controversial immigration operation has resulted in more than 3,000 arrests since it began in September, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

But it has also drawn legal challenges from plaintiffs that include protesters, local journalists and clergy members who accuse federal agents of shooting pepper balls and tear gas at demonstrators and unlawfully restricting the press.

Ellis summoned Bovino to testify Tuesday after plaintiffs accused him of throwing a tear gas canister into a crowd of demonstrators without justification or warning – a characterization DHS has refuted.

Here’s what we learned in court Tuesday.

Judge allows limited tear gas use, despite concerns of overuse

Even as she expressed concern that agents may not be complying with her order, Ellis declined to fully restrict their use of tear gas, as the plaintiffs had asked her to do.

“I’m not going to tie the agents’ hands because I’m not out there, and that’s not my job,” Ellis said. “But I am going to expect that they know and understand their responsibilities on the use of force.”

Ellis’ order, which applies to the entire Northern District of Illinois, blocks federal agents from using tear gas and less-lethal munitions on protesters unless there is an “immediate threat to safety.” It also requires clear warnings before these methods are used.

During the hearing, the judge went through her order line by line and detailed how agents should comply, including clearly identifying themselves and providing ample warning before deploying gas.

“The warning has to include what it is that you’re going to do, what you’re going to do before you do it, and allow people to comply,” Ellis said.

The judge cited videos that she said appeared to show agents firing gas without notice and with no immediate threat.

Bovino declined to comment on specific instances, saying, “Each situation is dependent on the situation.” But Ellis noted he’s likely to be asked about recent alleged violations of her order during a deposition she’s allowing plaintiff’s attorneys to conduct of him in the coming days.

Ellis ordered that all use-of-force reports for Operation Midway Blitz from September 2 through last Saturday, along with any body camera footage taken during those interactions, be turned over to the court under seal by the end of this week.

A hearing to determine whether Ellis should convert her temporary restraining order into a longer-lasting preliminary injunction is scheduled for next week.

Body cameras ‘are your friends’ – but Bovino doesn’t have one

As the Trump administration and protesters provide starkly different pictures of the reality on the ground, Ellis emphasized the importance of agents wearing body cameras to document their interactions with protesters, saying it could actually benefit agents who claim they are being attacked by crowds.

“Cameras are your friends. If you are conducting enforcement activities in the street, and there is a threat, the body-worn camera is going to pick that up. All I have to do is look at the video,” Ellis said.

But Bovino admitted that while the “vast majority” of his agents wear body cameras, he does not wear one himself, even though he participates in operations that fall under the judge’s order.

Earlier this month, Ellis told federal officials that agents must wear body cameras and turn them on when interacting with protesters in Chicago. Days later, a Customs and Border Protection commander told Ellis every agent on duty was equipped with a body camera.

“I would like you to do your best to ensure everybody who is under this Midway Blitz operation that they all have body-worn cameras,” Ellis said Tuesday. Bovino told the judge he would work to get a camera for himself by Friday.

Earlier in the hearing, Ellis said videos she had seen did not show justification for use of force.

“It’s difficult for me to see that the force being used is necessary to stop an immediate and serious threat of harm to a person,” Ellis told Bovino.

The plaintiffs allege Bovino can be seen in an October 23 video throwing a tear gas canister into a crowd. The Department of Homeland Security said Bovino was hit in the head beforehand, but that was not visible in publicly released videos.

CNN has reviewed video released by DHS on Tuesday, which shows at least one object thrown near Bovino. It also shows at least a couple of people throwing objects. The video does not appear to show Bovino being struck in the head by an object.

In an online post, the agency said, “Border Patrol agents repeated multiple warnings to back up and that chemical agents would be deployed if warnings were ignored. Riot control measures were deployed, including by Chief Bovino, and arrests were made.”

A community’s sense of safety is ‘shattered,’ judge says

Aggressive dispersal tactics and angry clashes between agents and demonstrators do not occur in isolation, Ellis said, and the judge called Tuesday’s hearing in part to ensure residents can live safely while immigration enforcement takes place.

“Folks on the sidewalks, on the streets, if they’re in a public place that they’re lawfully allowed to be, can be there unless we’ve got exigent circumstances,” the judge said.

Ellis seemed to reference a reported tear-gassing incident in the Old Irving Park neighborhood Saturday as a children’s Halloween parade was getting underway, saying the event “shattered their sense of safety.”

“Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others. They just don’t,” Ellis said.

She said she hoped children in Little Village, the neighborhood where Bovino is accused of gassing protesters, “can feel safe walking to the store or walking to school and not worry about being tear-gassed and not be terrified where they live.”

“That’s not how any of us want to live,” the judge added.

She said her order and Tuesday’s hearing was intended to ensure Bovino and his agents enforce the law in a way that is “objectionably reasonable.”

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