In Chicago, the ABC7 I-Team is delving into a collection of videos recently released by Judge Sara Ellis. These videos are tied to her issuance of a preliminary injunction aimed at curbing the use of force by federal agents against protesters and journalists during “Operation Midway Blitz” in the Chicago area.
The footage, provided by the law firm Loevy and Loevy, supports ongoing litigation involving protesters, religious leaders, and media representatives against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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Judge Ellis, in her extensive 200-plus-page opinion, highlights numerous instances where the Department of Homeland Security’s accounts are starkly at odds with the evidence captured on body-worn cameras used by the agents.
Here are some notable examples from her findings.
One incident on September 26, outside the Broadview ICE facility, is particularly telling. Video evidence reveals a line of agents stationed at least 30 feet from the protesters. Despite this considerable distance, the agents can be heard yelling “move back, move back” before launching pepper balls and tear gas, actions that Judge Ellis states were unjustified based on the footage.
In the corresponding use of force report, an agent claimed that the protesters were becoming “increasingly hostile.” However, Judge Ellis noted in her opinion that the video clearly shows the protesters were merely standing still when the agents began using force.
On October 4 in Brighton Park, footage shows an agent pushing a protestor to the ground. Then, tear gas and pepper balls are released. Judge Ellis wrote that only after tear gas, pepper balls and a protester was pushed to the ground by agents did protesters throw items, which “does not support agents’ use of force.”
In an incident the ABC 7 I-Team covered in Albany Park on October 12, Judge Ellis wrote that agents said in reports, and DHS publicized, that a bicyclist threw a bike at agents. But in a video, provided with no sound to start, she says it “makes clear” that agents first throw tear gas, then take a protester’s bike throwing it and multiple other protesters to the ground after deploying tear gas.
Ellis also noted an agent is seen in redacted and blurred video from his body-worn camera in at least one instance using ChatGPT to write a use of force report, saying “to the extent that agents use ChatGPT to create their use of force reports, this further undermines their credibility…” Judge Ellis went on to say “…it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything that Defendants represent.”
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Judge Ellis’s initial order while the Trump administration’s appeal is heard.
Despite what the videos shower, neither the Department of Homeland Security nor Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino has ever admitted to an unjustified use of force, claiming throughout that all of their actions have been justified and lawful.
The I-Team reached out to DHS but have not received a response.
