In Chicago’s Southeast Side a routine border‑patrol safety test turned into a tense clash with the community. The incident began when a red SUV—believed to belong to an illegal immigrant—rammed a federal Border Patrol vehicle. Officers chased the driver, but the pursuit ended in a crash that set the streets on fire.
The chase was stopped by a “PIT maneuver,” a move that forced the SUV to flip back and hit another car. Two people jumped from the wrecked vehicle and sprinted away. Federal agents, in a white SUV, kept the pace and eventually caught the pair. Soon afterward, onlookers in the area turned hostile.
By 11 a.m., Chicago police had moved in to calm what had become a volatile crowd. Federal agents began firing tear‑gas canisters, spraying white smoke over the faces of hundreds of residents. Thirteen officers also inhaled the chemical. Law‑enforcement cameras captured agents clearing shots aimed within close range of the crowd.
The exchanges escalated when two U.S. citizens—a 16‑year‑old and a 19‑year‑old—were hauled in by agents. Although neither was accused of throwing objects, witnesses say they were grabbed and thrown against concrete. One of the teens, the son of mother Juanita Garnica, was stuck in a federal building garage for five hours before a family released him. Another, Warren King, was forced to the ground, then taken to Calumet Park after his friends brought a birth certificate to prove he was a U.S. citizen.
The exact number of people who clashed with the agents remains unclear, but the scene quickly turned chaotic. Governor J.B. Pritzker, speaking to the press, called the treatment of protesters “abominable.” He blasted the use of tear gas, pepper pellets and rubber bullets against people holding signs and expressing their views.
The altercation is part of a broader wave of confrontations sparked by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” launched last month to target people who immigrated to Chicago hoping it would be a sanctuary state. Pritzker’s administration says the operation brings “criminal illegal aliens” to Illinois.
Chicago police and Homeland Security officials have not yet answered public requests for more details on the incident. The federal agency’s X post said the operation “targets the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker…would protect them.”
Keywords: Chicago, border patrol, illegal immigrant, tear gas, protest, FBI, ICE, Operation Midway Blitz, J.B. Pritzker, Southeast Side, crowd control, U.S. citizen, PIT maneuver, federal agents, South Side, civil rights, law enforcement.
This event underscores how a single moment of conflict can spark a broader debate about immigration, law enforcement and community trust in the Windy City.
Source: New York Post
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