Protest at Illinois ICE facility draws tear gas, accusations of violence

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00:00In a Chicago suburb Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said more than 200 protesters

00:05blocked a gate at the ICE facility in Broadview. Another 30 people went to a different gate and

00:11were allegedly trying to illegally enter federal property.

00:16Federal agents used tear gas and pepper balls on the protesters amid ongoing clashes related to

00:23increased immigration enforcement, several news outlets reported. One federal agent was seen

00:28firing from a nearby rooftop. The confrontation comes just two days after a gunman shot and killed

00:34a detainee and injured two others at an ICE facility in Dallas. Just days after the vile

00:40terrorist attack on an ICE Dallas facility, over 200 rioters gathered outside the Broadview

00:46Processing Center in Illinois, and some began chanting, shoot ICE. These violent threats and

00:51smears about ICE must stop. There is no place in American politics for violence. Assistant Secretary

00:57Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. According to the Associated Press, a few protesters tried to

01:03block a car heading toward the ICE building. This prompted federal agents to fire tear gas and pepper

01:09bullets multiple times at a crowd of more than 100 protesters, hitting people who were standing back

01:15and allegedly not involved in blocking traffic. The Chicago Sun-Times reports one of its photographers

01:21was hit by rubber pellets. One protester who's also an elected member of the Skokie Board of Education said

01:28the chemical agents caught her and others off guard. This truly caught us so incredibly off guard. We

01:34literally were just tying notes on the wall. And for a minute, like I was obviously coughing. It was

01:40very hard to breathe. I was disoriented for a second. I just didn't understand what happened fully

01:45unprovoked. As agents fired, protesters either fled or fell to the ground, most dispersed. Some rinsed

01:52tear gas from their eyes outside the facility, according to the AP. Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson

01:58wrote a letter to Russell Haught, the ICE field office director, on Friday calling for relief from

02:04ICE's, quote, siege of our neighborhood. In effect, you are making war on my community, she wrote, and it

02:10has to stop. The AP reports that in recent weeks, protesters have tried to stop agents' vehicles

02:16from entering or leaving an area next to the building. On Tuesday, that fence was put up,

02:22keeping protesters farther away from the facility. Thompson demanded the federal government take

02:27down the, quote, illegal fence. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan. If you want more on this

02:32story, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com.