A day of protests outside a federal immigration detention facility in suburban Chicago turned violent Friday, when immigration enforcement agents used tear gas, pepper spray, and chemical projectiles against demonstrators blocking vehicles. The confrontations, which stretched from early morning until late afternoon, left multiple protesters and bystanders injured, fueling criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The most widely circulated incident occurred around 4:15 p.m. outside the ICE processing center in Broadview. Video footage shows a female protester standing before an SUV as it attempted to leave the facility. Federal agents fired a chemical irritant at close range, striking her before forcefully shoving her to the ground. Witnesses said she was dragged inside the facility, where she was held briefly. When she emerged, she appeared “disoriented and missing a shoe,” according to fellow protesters. Paramedics treated her before she was transported to a local hospital.
“This was a clear and brutal assault on a peaceful protester exercising her constitutional rights,” said one organizer with an immigrant rights coalition, who described the scene as “state violence in broad daylight.”
The protests began around 5 a.m. with about 100 demonstrators linking arms to block ICE buses and vans. By 8:30 a.m., agents had escalated force, deploying tear gas and firing pepper spray projectiles into the crowd. Some federal officers were positioned on the rooftop of the detention center, launching chemical munitions into the street below.
Among those injured was Kat Abughazaleh, a Democratic congressional candidate. Witnesses said she was thrown to the ground by a camouflaged agent before being struck multiple times with pepper balls, sustaining hand injuries and extensive bruising.
Journalists were also caught in the chaos. A CBS News photojournalist was struck by pepper spray balls while filming. Even local law enforcement was not spared: a Broadview police officer was inadvertently exposed to mace and tear gas, after federal agents allegedly failed to notify the department before deploying chemical weapons—an apparent violation of an existing agreement.
Friday’s violence is the latest flashpoint in what immigrant rights groups describe as an intensifying pattern of aggression under “Operation Midway Blitz,” a federal immigration enforcement campaign launched on September 8. The operation has already resulted in nearly 550 arrests in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Local officials and advocacy groups have condemned the crackdown as excessive and dangerous. “This is not law enforcement—it is political theater with real human costs,” said one Chicago alderman who joined protesters outside the Broadview facility earlier this week.
Since the operation began, the Broadview ICE center has become a weekly rallying point, drawing longtime activists and first-time demonstrators. Despite the injuries and arrests, organizers said protests will continue.
“We will not be silenced,” Abughazaleh said in a statement late Friday. “If they think violence will break our movement, they are gravely mistaken.”
