ICE deploys tear gas as costumed children head to Halloween parade

A former Cook County prosecutor said he had collected a tear gas canister from his own front lawn in a residential Chicago neighborhood and submitted it to a law firm that is preparing a lawsuit over immigration officers’ persistent use of tear gas against residents who object to their raids across the city—including in Old Irving Park this past weekend, where parents and children were getting ready for a Halloween parade when agents wreaked havoc on the neighborhood.

The Chicago Tribune reported that former prosecutor Brian Kolp had been watching news coverage Saturday morning of a temporary restraining order handed down by US District Court Judge Sara Ellis earlier this month barring federal agents from using riot control weapons like tear gas against protesters who do not pose an immediate harm to officers’ safety, when he realized federal agents were on his street in Old Irving Park.

“I could see two fully uniformed agents in military fatigues literally tackling a guy right here in my front lawn,” Kolp told CBS News.

The man the agents detained, Luis Villegas, had been working at a house in the neighborhood, and his brother told reporters he was an undocumented immigrant who came to the US with his family at the age of four.

Neighbors ran out of their houses and filmed and heckled the agents, Block Club Chicago reported, with some shouting, “Get off of him!” Another appeared to call one of the officers a “f---ing Nazi.”

The outlet reported that agents got out of their vehicles moments later, “put on their gas masks, and attacked at least two different people.”

A person on a rapid response team that warns locals when Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents are in the area told Block Club Chicago that a 67-year-old woman was “knocked to the ground” by masked officers. She and a 70-year-old man were detained, and Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed they were “arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.”

McLaughlin also claimed Villegas was arrested for a previous assault charge, but provided no evidence of his criminal background.

In nearby Avondale, Chicago Tribune reporter Laura N. Rodríguez Presa said another woman was pushed to the ground by an ICE or Customs and Border Protection agent when she approached their vehicle during another anti-immigration operation.

“This appears to be the new normal in Chicago,” said Rodríguez Presa.

In Old Irving Park, the “new normal” for residents on Saturday included federal agents deploying tear gas as parents and costumed children were leaving their homes on their way to a neighborhood Halloween parade.

Resident James Hotchkiss told Block Club Chicago that he was leaving his house with his wife and children at 9:45 a.m. for the parade when he heard whistles ringing out in the neighborhood—a sound Chicagoans have come to recognize as a warning that ICE is nearby.

“At that point, I saw a man running towards me followed by two to three officers chasing after him. They tackled him onto a neighbor’s front yard,” he said.

About 10 minutes later, Hotchkiss saw smoke in the air.

“I took my glasses off because my eyes were burning,” he said. “I saw someone pour water on a gas canister that appeared to be on fire.”

Heather Cherone, a senior reporter at WTTW, said the attack on Old Irving Park marked the “third straight day that federal agents have deployed tear gas against Chicagoans and the seventh time in 22 days,” despite the court order.

Kolp told Fox 32 that he “didn’t see anybody with a weapon” that would have justified the agents’ use of force.

“So you had folks who were literally out on the street taking their kids to this Halloween parade when this happened,” he said. “I didn’t see anybody make physical contact with these agents. I didn’t see anybody do anything that justified, for instance, taking my 70-year-old neighbor to the ground.”

The agents left the neighborhood after about 30 minutes, and the Halloween parade proceeded—but with many families opting to stay home.

Kolp told CBS News he retrieved a tear gas canister from his yard.

“I knew that piece of evidence would be critical for the judge to understand what the facts are,” he said.

Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino is due in court on Tuesday, Fox 32 reported, to answer questions about agents’ continued use of tear gas against residentsin violation of Ellis’ order.

“I was pretty upset to be honest with you,” Kolp told the outlet. “I am an attorney. I used to work with and in law enforcement, and watching this happen in my front yard was just not something that I ever thought was gonna come to my front door. But you know, here we are.”