AT A GLANCE
- U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis says agents violated protesters’ and media’s constitutional rights.
- New order restricts use of force, mandates body cameras, and requires warnings before using riot weapons.
- Case stems from a lawsuit over alleged brutality during Trump’s immigration crackdown.
- Federal government expected to appeal the decision.
Judge Says Chicago Agents Abused Power During Immigration Crackdown
A federal judge ruled Thursday that federal agents in Chicago must limit their use of force against peaceful protesters and journalists, citing repeated violations of constitutional rights during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she will issue a preliminary injunction refining her earlier temporary order, which already required agents to display badges and banned certain riot-control techniques.
The new order adds stricter limits, including mandatory body cameras and a two-warning rule before using riot-control weapons like tear gas. Agents may now only use force if it’s “objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat.”
Ellis criticized the federal government for ignoring prior court orders and discredited agents’ accounts of violence at protests. “I don’t find defendants’ version of events credible,” she said after hearing testimony that included a Border Patrol commander throwing a tear gas canister into a peaceful crowd.
The lawsuit was brought by journalists and protesters who say they were assaulted or intimidated during demonstrations. Witnesses recounted being shot with pepper balls, thrown to the ground, or having guns pointed at them while filming agents in residential neighborhoods.
One witness, Leslie Cortez, a youth organizer from Cicero, told the court, “I get really nervous because it just feels like I’m not safe. And I question my safety when I go out.”
Judge Ellis, who began the hearing by reading from Carl Sandburg’s poem celebrating Chicago’s “vibrant” spirit, said the city’s residents are not the violent agitators federal officials portray them to be. Her ruling requires senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino and other agents to wear and properly use body cameras—a mandate Bovino reportedly fulfilled only after prior court pressure.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
