CHICAGO (AP) — A high-speed chase involving Border Patrol agents led to the pursued person's arrest Tuesday afternoon in a residential street on Chicago's South Side, authorities said, and footage from the scene shows protesters gathering before agents deployed tear gas to disperse them.
While federal agents conducted an immigration enforcement operation, a driver suspected of being in the country illegally rammed into a Border Patrol vehicle before fleeing, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agents chased the vehicle until the driver stopped and attempted to run away.
As agents arrested the person, a crowd began to form, and crowd control methods were used, DHS officials said. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) confirmed that federal agents deployed tear gas into the street. Thirteen CPD officers were exposed to the substance.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker condemned the treatment of protesters, labeling it abominable. He emphasized that it is unprecedented in America for peaceful demonstrators to be exposed to such force.
Protests against the federal immigration crackdown have been ongoing throughout Chicago, primarily outside a federal immigration facility in Broadview, and are escalating in neighborhood streets. Activists are calling for changes in local sanctuary policies as tensions rise.
This incident marks a growing pattern of confrontations between federal agents and protesters in Chicago, with warnings of repercussions for aggressive enforcement methods against community members.
