Federal agents chased a car through a residential neighborhood on the Southeast Side of Chicago Tuesday, and then intentionally crashed into the car in a risky maneuver restricted by some police departments nationwide.
The maneuver was caught on local security cameras, which showed the car being hit by the feds’ vehicle, leading the occupants of the car to fall out while it was moving. The occupants then fled on foot as agents ran behind.
The commotion attracted a crowd of onlookers and protesters, who converged near the scene of the crash at 105th Street and Avenue N in the East Side. A large number of armed Customs and Border Patrol agents responded to the crowd by hurling smoke grenades, shooting pepper balls and deploying at least three rounds of tear gas over the area, even with children and seniors in the area. At least four protesters were detained.
“When you’re using these tactics, you are asking people to be hospitalized,” said Oscar Sanchez, a member of a rapid response network that tracks immigration enforcement activity. He said he saw an agent hit a teenage girl in the head with a tear gas canister. “You see elderly folks on the [ground], so you just ask yourself, what is this for? Why is the aggression needed? Why are these elevated tactics even being used?”
The situation Tuesday is the latest incident in which federal agents have brought aggressive immigration enforcement techniques to a Chicago neighborhood, and resorted to using tear gas and other munitions on crowds nearby.
The crash happened around 11 a.m., said a Chicago police spokesperson, who said officers responded to document the crash but did not help with federal operations.
Security video from a local business and shared with the Sun-Times appears to show federal agents in a white SUV pursuing a red SUV before ramming the rear end of the red car, causing the car to crash.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that the Border Patrol agents were conducting an immigration enforcement traffic stop when the car allegedly “rammed” the feds’ vehicle. The feds did not say where that initial incident happened, and it was not caught on the security footage shared with the Sun-Times.
The feds admitted to using a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver to stop the car, in which agents hit the rear back corner of the car being pursued, causing it to spin out.
Chicago police are barred from causing a collision with another vehicle during a pursuit. Other police departments nationwide ban or restrict the maneuver, which has led to many deadly crashes nationwide.
The white SUV, which appeared to have only front-end damage, was towed from the scene.
After the red vehicle stopped, the driver and passenger can be seen in the video falling out of the car and running away in different directions while being chased on foot by three federal agents who jumped out of the white SUV.
The spokesperson said the driver and passenger of the red SUV were arrested. He alleged they were both in the U.S. without legal status. DHS did not release their names or say whether any charges would be filed.
It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the incident.
After the crash, dozens of people gathered at the crash scene in protest, leading to a chaotic confrontation with federal officers.
Some protesters allegedly threw objects at federal agents, Chicago police said.
The feds then used tear gas and other chemical irritants on the crowd. In a video posted to Facebook, parents can be seen running from the area carrying a baby in a carrier.
In addition to residents, 13 CPD members also were overcome by tear gas while on the scene to try to de-escalate tensions between protesters and federal agents, police said.
Destiny Salazar, 20, said she saw someone in the crowd throw an object at agents, and she saw agents throw tear gas canisters into the crowd. She, along with much of the crowd, turned to run away from the chemical cloud.
When she looked back, she saw her 15-year-old cousin and 19-year-old boyfriend “slammed to the ground” and handcuffed by masked federal agents.
“They were pushed to the ground really hard, and I don’t think it was that necessary because they didn’t throw nothing,” Salazar said. “They threw him to the ground and as [he] was saying, ‘My neck, my neck,’ [the federal agent] just kept pushing him down more and more.”
After the teens were detained, the 15-year-old’s mother, Juanita Garnica, rushed to the scene from work with tears in her eyes. Garnica didn’t know where her son was or what charges he faced.
“They took my son … ,” she said. “He was violated. They said they slammed him to the ground. I just want my baby back.”
Late Tuesday, attorneys from the Romanucci and Blandin law firm said in a statement that the boy was released after several hours in custody,
The boy, who is Hispanic and African American, was held in a garage for five hours “without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney,” the statement said. He is a U.S. citizen, as is his entire immediate family, the release said.
“He was then transported to a federal law enforcement facility not affiliated with CBP or ICE, where CBP agents held him, handcuffed, in the back of a vehicle in a garage—never booking him, never reading him his rights, never stating why he was detained, and never allowing him to contact his mother,” the statement read.
Lawyers railed against the brazen tactics used by the feds and said the firm is investigating possible constitutional rights violations, including due process violations.
“This is not law enforcement; this is the playbook of authoritarian regimes,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said in the release. “This behavior by people who have sworn to serve our communities and country is a painful parallel to the days of the Ku Klux Klan patrolling the streets with their faces covered, terrorizing people of color. This horrific behavior has to stop.”
In a statement, state Sen. Elgie Sims said he was monitoring the situation and called the use of chemical agents in his district “unjust.”
“No person should be targeted by the color of their skin, and no group should be attacked for standing up for what is right,” Sims said. “Let me be clear: Now is not the time for hate and divisiveness. Now is the time to stand united as a community and to protect our neighbors.”
