Federal Judge Rules ICE Must Wear Body Cameras In Chicago
On Thursday, a federal judge in Chicago ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents must wear body cameras after being “profoundly concerned” they may have violated one of her prior court orders.
The New York Times reports that Judge Sara L. Ellis of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois previously issued a court order placing restrictions on the use of tear gas and requiring ICE agents to give protesters warnings to disperse before using force. She ordered the use of body cameras so that there’s proof they’re giving crowds adequate warnings to disperse. “That’s the nice thing about body cameras, is that they pick up events before the triggering event happens,” she said.
According to CNN, Sean Skedzielewski, an attorney representing the Trump administration, opposed the body camera order as he felt “it would require a tremendous amount of resources” to review body camera footage over every allegation. Considering that Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” gives ICE $75 billion over the next four years, I’m fairly certain they have the resources to spare.
Ellis also ordered ICE Field Director Russell Hott to appear before her on Monday. “The field director is going to explain to me why I am seeing images of tear gas being deployed and reading reports that there were no warnings given out in the field,” Ellis said.
The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit by a coalition of media organizations, journalists, and protesters who alleged that ICE agents engaged in “a pattern of extreme brutality” intended to “silence the press and civilians.” A declaration from Jeff Arnold, president of the Chicago Headline Club, alleged that the organization has confirmed six incidents of federal agents assaulting journalists, with another four having been reported.
One incident Ellis particularly took note of involved a CBS News reporter who was driving a clearly marked press van on a public street when a federal agent fired pepperballs into the vehicle through the open driver’s side window. For a group of people allegedly trying to “make America safe,” firing at someone in a moving vehicle seems like a surefire way to endanger the safety of both the driver and any bystander in the area.
Ellis was particularly critical of the tactics employed by ICE and Border Patrol agents. “There’s a reason the Chicago Police Department has policies about car chases and where they occur, and where they need to stop,” Ellis said. “We’re not on the border. We are in an urban, densely populated area where crowds are going to converge when there’s a commotion, where appropriate crowd control is important.”
“You can’t shoot ‘em in the head (with pepper balls). You can’t deploy tear gas. You can’t use flash-bang grenades. You can’t drive a car through a crowd,” she added.
From both a public relations and legal standpoint, ICE’s time in Chicago has not gone smoothly. There have been various videos going viral of both the brutality and incompetence of federal law enforcement in the city. Attitudes toward ICE have somehow gotten even worse, as videos have come out showing a news producer getting taken to the ground and arrested for no apparent reason, and a pastor being pepper-sprayed simply for praying.
On the legal front, a federal judge blocked ICE from using blank warrants to conduct arrests. Additionally, a federal judge has also blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard into the city. As ICE continues to terrorize communities throughout the nation, it’s becoming increasingly clear that nobody, outside the staunchest of bootlickers, wants this.
SEE ALSO:
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Federal Judge Rules ICE Must Wear Body Cameras In Chicago was originally published on newsone.com
