Trump's Tear Gas Hell

Journalists and citizens are documenting the administration's overreach in Chicago. That evidence is helping hold federal agents accountable in court.

Illustration by Riley Levine

Chicagoans are rightly furious that ICE is here pulling people off the street, arresting bystanders, intentionally targeting clergy and journalists and trying to sow chaos in this otherwise peaceful city. Now we also have a flurry of unwarranted tear gassing across the city.

Journalists are not just covering the outrage on our streets, they are covering the ongoing court battles as well. Their work is helping hold the federal government accountable when it lies in court, when it defies judicial orders, and when it seeks, by force, to go beyond what it is permitted to do by law.

Here are some of the news headlines from the past few days in Chicago:

• Federal Agents Use Tear Gas Again, Disrupt Northwest Side Halloween Parade

• Lakeview Street Tear-Gassed By Agents Amid North Side Immigration Surge: ‘It Hit Home’

• Teachers Scrambled After ICE Released Tear Gas Outside a Chicago Elementary School

• Federal agent throws tear gas canister from SUV on busy Chicago street

• Federal Agents Tear Gas Chicago Police—Violating Judge’s Order

• Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, Other Agents Fired Tear Gas at Little Village Crowd ‘Without Justification,’ Lawyers Say

• ‘I couldn’t breathe’: ICE agents fire tear gas at peaceful protesters in Chicago suburb

• “It Pisses Me Off’: Chicago Neighborhood Furious as Feds Lob Tear Gas, Detain US Citizens

These headlines tell a frightening story about an American city under attack by an American president. The reporting belies the federal government filings in both the 7th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. If facts and evidence eventually triumph over propaganda and ideology, much of the credit will go to what reporters and the vigilant residents of Chicago are doing in this crisis.

Donald Trump told the military to use American cities to practice their lethal skills. Now Chicago, a great American city that did not vote for him, is ground zero. Numerous neighborhoods have recently been shaken as the government now routinely deploys tear gas against families, school children, teachers, local police, news reporters, clergy, and peaceful protestors. The dense, white clouds of tear gas are becoming increasingly common here despite federal court orders limiting the use of so-called “riot control” weapons.

Eight Tear Gas Incidents in Three Days

Local news stories and social media feeds are filled with images of Donald Trump’s ICE agents tossing, heaving or rolling canisters of the chemical irritant directly at people in a variety of neighborhoods across the city. So far, none of that coverage shows out of control crowds that need to be subdued. Instead, we see Chicagoans loudly telling ICE agents to get out of our city, blowing whistles to warn our neighbors that a CPB abduction is underway or honking horns to alert communities that an ICE caravan is on the hunt. Most of the time, the crowds are quite small, made up of neighbors who heard a commotion and responded.

The first hand accounts also show that federal agents are repeatedly failing to follow the rules laid down by Federal Judge Sara Ellis following a lawsuit by local journalists, protestors and residents who have been victimized by an overly aggressive ICE response. In early October, Judge Ellis ordered the federal agents in Chicago to wear body-cameras, “conspicuous” identification on their uniforms, issue advance warnings about incoming tear gas grenades and provide enough time after those warnings for people to disperse.

---

---

Border Patrol Boss Put on Notice

There was a hearing in Federal Court in Chicago on Tuesday to address complaints that those orders are being ignored. Judge Ellis actually read her month-old court order out loud to Greg Bovino, the U.S. Border Control official in charge of the Chicago effort. She then ordered him to meet with her at the end of every day to review the tactics used by his agents.

The Judge also put Bovino on notice about improper tear gas use, especially on Halloween. The Chicago Sun Times reports that Judge Ellis said: “I’m not out in the street. I’m here. But I am getting videos. … It is difficult for me to see that the force being used is necessary to stop an immediate and serious threat of physical harm to a person.” She later added, “I don’t know that we’re going to see a whole lot of tear gas being deployed over the next week.” Judge Ellis did not rule yet on the whether federal agents had violated her court order. The next hearing is set for Nov 5th.

Meanwhile, as Bovino left the courthouse, The Chicago Tribune reports one of the agents accompanying him was seen holding a tear gas canister.

Without Warning

The tear gas escalation kicked off this past Thursday after two days of a large ICE presence in the mostly Latino neighborhood of Little Village. In one video clip, CBP’s Bovino is seen throwing a tear gas canister towards a crowd of people. Trump’s DHS contends that the angry protestors were actually “rioters … who shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks” and that multiple warnings were issued that teargas was being deployed. Like usual, there is no evidence to support those wild claims.

There was certainly a growing, angry crowd, but eyewitness accounts and videos of the incident do not show that Bovino (or any other agents) issued the required warning before he threw the tear gas into the crowd. In fact, he seems to be playing to the cameras, mask off and tear gas grenade in hand.

Blowing Whistles, Honking Horns and Cussing

Tear gas was also deployed against Chicago residents in the Old Irving Park neighborhood on Saturday morning, as local children gathered for a Halloween parade. Tear gas enveloped the kids and others nearby as the usually quiet block was suddenly filled with hulking ICE vehicles and masked men in pursuit of a man doing landscaping work.

Neighbors and others quickly rallied and were soon, as the Chicago Tribune reported, “marching down the street, filming and blowing whistles as they cussed out federal agents.” One person who joined in was ex-prosecutor Brian Kolp who ran out of his house as soon as he heard the whistles, barefoot and wearing his Chicago Blackhawks PJ’s. Kolp says the use of tear gas was excessive. He told WGN News: “Nobody was being violent. No one had weapons.”

Neighbors also rallied on Friday when ICE targeted construction workers in the upscale Lakeview neighborhood. Videos show how people who were out walking dogs and riding bikes came together to tell the federal agents to get lost. Block Club Chicago talked to one local resident who saw the ICE agents deploy 4 tear gas canisters as they drove away: “They had gotten the workers they’d kidnapped inside, and the community came out — yelling, filming, blowing whistles, giving them a piece of their mind.“No one was being aggressive whatsoever, and they just started deploying tear gas.”

Another neighbor told the Chicago Sun-Times: “All of a sudden, you heard, ‘Pop, pop!’ And they just threw out some tear gas. Basically, it just cleared out the entire crowd. I had to leave and run up my stairs just to get out of it. Burning in the eyes, burning in the skin.”

A Campaign of Intimidation, not Crowd Control

ICE has been out of control since the start. Using tear gas, pepper spray projectiles and other harsh tactics against Chicago residents has been part of the ICE and CPB playbook since the current group arrived here nearly 6 weeks ago as part of Trump’s ‘Operation Midway Blitz.’ A Human Rights Watch investigation into ICE actions at the immigration facility in suburban Broadview found:

“Photographs and videos analyzed show DHS agents repeatedly deployed a range of what is called “less lethal force” against protesters, including tear gas, pepper balls, and foam projectile rounds, a type of kinetic impact projectile designed to some degree incapacitate or deter a target through blunt force trauma rather than penetration.

All witnesses said that agents used less-lethal force without warning and against people who posed no threat to them. Those interviewed also said they did not see protesters using force against agents. They said they saw some protesters trying to block ICE vehicles by standing in front of them.Two witnesses said that on some occasions, protesters kicked tear gas canisters away from them, apparently to protect themselves.”

No Tear Gassing on Halloween

As the tear gas attacks on Chicago took center stage in Judge Ellis’ courtroom on Tuesday, she used the ample evidence from the incredible reporting on our streets to help her hold the government accountable for its actions. She was especially focused on last Saturday’s tear gassing of kids in costumes. She told CPB’s Bovino: “Halloween is on Friday. I do not want to get violation reports from the plaintiffs that show that agents are out and about on Halloween, where kids are present and tear gas is being deployed.”

Will they comply? We will know soon enough because on Halloween and beyond, you can be sure that Chicago journalists, together with local residents and immigration activists, will continue bearing witness to this violent federal overreach.

Jennifer Schulze is a longtime Chicago journalist. She’s on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social and Substack at “Indistinct Chatter.” Read the original column here.