Illegal immigrants were behind the attack on a Border Patrol convoy that sparked a dangerous car chase and riot in Chicago, officials confirmed Wednesday while decrying the “growing and dangerous” trend of violence against federal agents.
Venezuelan nationals Yonder Enrique Tenefe-Perez and Luis Gerardo Pirela-Ramirez, who are in the US illegally, were identified as the suspects accused of ramming into a Border Patrol SUV driving through Chicago’s Southeast Side Tuesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News.
The pair were arrested soon after the alleged attack, but not before it spread chaos across the neighborhood and culminated in a car wreck and a mob of protestors hurling objects at the federal agents.
“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest and agitators and criminals ramming cars into our law enforcement officers,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
“The fact that this attack was carried out by two illegal immigrants, highlights the need for federal law enforcement to continue to do their job of enforcing the laws of our nation,” they added.
Pirela-Ramirez and Tenefe-Perez both sped away after the ramming, forcing Border Patrol agents to chase them through the residential streets.
Officers eventually were able to stop the Venezuelans’ car with a PIT maneuver — only for the suspects to spill out of the car and flee on foot.
Both were finally detained, but a crowd of unruly protestors began to form around the arresting officers and hurl objects at them.
Police arrived to help the federal agents and tear gas was eventually fired into the crowd, and law enforcement was able to regain control of the situation.
“As Border Patrol arrested the subjects and attempted to secure the scene a crowd began to form and eventually turned hostile and eventually crowd control measures were used,” the DHS said.
The Border Patrol car — a large SUV — was so badly damaged that it had to be towed away.
And over a dozen law enforcement agents were exposed to the tear gas, while two American teens were arrested in the melee.
The alarming showdown was just the latest incident of people ramming immigration enforcement convoys with their own vehicles in Chicago, and crowds accosting agents as they attempt to perform arrests.
One ramming earlier in October even resulted in a woman being shot after the suspect allegedly tried to run down officers when they climbed out of their car.
President Trump has characterized such violence as proof that the National Guard needs to be deployed to protect federal immigration agents operating in Chicago.
The Guard was even dispatched to Illinois last week, but remains stationed at bases outside of the city after a federal judge blocked the deployment for two weeks.
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