Border Patrol shoots woman on Southwest Side; agents, protesters battle for hours

U.S. Border Patrol shot a woman Saturday on the Southwest Side, marking the second shooting involving federal agents in Chicago since President Donald Trump’s administration launched an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the area last month.

Following the late-morning incident in Brighton Park, an angry crowd gathered. About 100 protesters were met with pepper balls and tear gas deployed by federal agents in skirmishes that lasted until late afternoon. Later Saturday, the White House announced that it would send 300 National Guard troops to Illinois despite Gov. JB Pritzker’s objections.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the Brighton Park shooting erupted after patrolling agents were “rammed by 10 cars” and “boxed in.” Agents then fired “defensive shots” when they discovered the woman “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon” while driving one of the cars, McLaughlin said.

The Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ have not independently verified the feds’ account. The exact time and location of the shooting weren’t immediately known.

McLaughlin said “no law enforcement officers were seriously injured,” and the wounded woman “drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.” But Larry Merritt, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman, said she was found near South 35th Street and California Avenue and taken in fair condition to Mount Sinai Hospital.

Chicago police records shared with the Sun-Times show that a Border Patrol agent had called for assistance, reporting that roughly 30 agents had been “surrounded by a large crowd of people.” But police officials weren’t sent to help, the records show.

A police spokesperson said officers ultimately responded to a call of a person shot in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue “to document the incident” and “maintain safety and traffic control for all living and working in the area.”

“We’re here so that you can protest,” Chicago Police Deputy Chief Gabriella Shemash told protesters.

But the Chicago Police Department “is not involved in the incident or its investigation. Federal authorities are investigating this shooting,” the spokesperson said.

The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m., according to workers at the Clark gas station and Liantas Tires.

Nari, 29, who declined to share his last name because of fears for his safety, was working at the gas station register. He says he heard about three loud pops that he thought sounded like gunfire, though he wasn’t sure because of the frequent loud noises at a rail yard across the street.

After hearing the gunshots, he waited a few minutes before going outside, where he saw ICE agents by the road, he said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Following the shooting, about noon, protesters began gathering on a stretch of Kedzie Avenue with small businesses on one side of the street and a rail yard on the other. The protesters lined both sides and chanted, “ICE go home.” Some protesters threw water bottles. When agents used tear gas and pepper balls, the protesters briefly dispersed and then returned. Several protesters were seen being detained by agents, including one person being taken down to the ground by at least three officers.

Chicago police officers who arrived were greeted with shouts from protesters complaining that the police were not protecting them. Protesters remained until federal agents left around 4 p.m.

Ald. Julia Ramirez, whose 12th Ward includes Brighton Park, said there was “pure escalation” from federal agents on Saturday. She said community members feel that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are antagonizing protesters.

“It doesn’t seem like things are calming down,” Ramirez said. “We’ve seen immense anger from neighbors feeling like federal agents are provoking and wanting to incite violence on people who just care about keeping people safe.”

Ramirez said a man who was driving one of the vehicles involved in the accident was detained. She said he is a U.S. citizen, but she could not confirm his name or age.

“Ultimately, this community stands with all of our neighbors,” Ramirez said. “Especially our immigrant neighbors.”

Trayvon Howse, 20, came out to protest near Kedzie Avenue and Pershing Road.

“We’re Americans. Why can’t we live in peace?” Howse said. “Last time I checked, we had freedom of speech, that was one of our amendments, right?”

Elizabeth Ruiz said agents had also rammed a vehicle into her son’s truck earlier and taken him into custody. Her 21-year-old son, who she said is a U.S. citizen, was being held inside an ICE vehicle nearby.

“Why would they take him? He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Ruiz, 51, of Gage Park. “My son has nothing to do with that. They need to let him go.”

In response to the ramped-up immigration campaign in the Chicago area and the corresponding protests, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros reaffirmed his office’s commitment to protecting federal agents and property.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“Assistant U.S. Attorneys will staff the FBI-led command post on a daily basis to monitor real-time developments and take swift action as needed when criminal offenders assault, obstruct, or impede law enforcement personnel or destroy federal property,” Boutros said in a statement Saturday.

Federal leaders including Douglas DePodesta, who heads the Chicago field office of the FBI, and Matthew Scarpino, who’s in charge of ICE’s homeland security investigations in the area, also said there is “no place for violence against law enforcement officers, obstruction of justice, or destruction of federal property.”

Since the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” came to Chicago last month, several protesters have been arrested by federal agents at an ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, which has become a de facto detention center without rules and oversight. Saturday night, a few dozen people protested there, chanting “shame” and pounding on cars entering the facility. State police troopers holding wooden batons guarded the roadway to keep protesters from blocking vehicles.

Five people were arrested on charges of resisting arrest and obstruction, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, a frequent attendee at protests, was among those detained. Video shows a few state troopers pinning him to the ground and detaining him about 7:30 p.m. near Lexington and 25th. He was charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Yosef said he was holding a microphone and leading chants on a sidewalk when an ISP trooper started pushing protesters out of the way and approached Yosef.

“It was like I had no time to react, and next thing I know I was grabbed, they locked my arms and the other [troopers] came with him and threw me to the ground, pinned me down,” Yosef said about two hours later after he was released.

“All I saw was just the ground, and I saw sideways. I couldn’t see nothing. It was like I was literally trapped,” he said, adding that he was on his stomach as three troopers knelt on his back.

“I couldn’t resist. I was like crushed,” he said.

Yosef said the handcuffs were “so tight” that it felt like “torture.” He suffered some scrapes to his arms from the pavement and discomfort in his shoulder, he said.

ICE and Border Patrol “are violent forces in our communities, and … Trump and his cronies are using their own actions as pretense for sending in the Illinois National Guard,” according to a statement issued Saturday by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and the Southwest Rapid Response team. They said “ICE and DHS are know to lie” and “their statement today is totally inconsistent with our observations in the community.”

Candace Dane Chambers / Sun-Times

A Brighton Park resident said Saturday that he looked out the window of his home, which is near where the shooting occurred, after hearing roughly four gunshots and saw federal agents. “It’s scary and it’s wrong,” said Matthew, 34, who did not want to share his last name out of fear for his safety.

Reina Diaz has lived in Brighton Park for 36 years. The native of Mexico was within a few feet of ICE agents, who were standing guard while protesters shouted at them.

“It hurts, it hurts because we are all here fighting for ourselves. It’s a shame that the president is harming the economy of this country.”

Maritza Vega lives half a block away from where federal agents threw tear gas canisters into a crowd of protesters.

“They were spraying it halfway down the block. It came down here. We had to run [inside] at one point,” Vega said. “It’s a disgrace. It’s a disgrace because they shouldn’t be treating people like that at all, the way they were standing out there with those big old guns [when] nobody was touching them.”

The shooting comes weeks after federal immigration agents fatally shot a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in northwest suburban Franklin Park, officials said.

Silverio Villegas González was killed Sept. 12 when he allegedly resisted arrest and attempted to drive his car into ICE officers, dragging one officer who then opened fire, DHS has said. Villegas González was pronounced dead at a hospital.

DHS reported that the officer who opened fire had been “seriously injured” during the encounter. But body-worn camera footage first obtained by the Sun-Times shows that he described his injuries as “nothing major” shortly after the shooting.