Federal officials appeared before a judge on Monday to answer questions about whether the government violated a court order by using tear gas against protesters and residents in a crackdown on illegal immigration in the Chicago area.
The hearing before Judge Sara L. Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois appears to be the first face-to-face courtroom exchange between a federal judge and a Homeland Security official about the crowd control tactics used in President Trump’s Chicago immigration crackdown.
Judge Ellis said last week that she was “profoundly concerned” that the government was flouting her order limiting the use of tear gas against protesters. Still, her questioning of one official, Kyle C. Harvick, on Monday morning was muted, and she did not dispute Mr. Harvick’s statement in court that federal agents in Chicago had been made aware of her order.
The judge questioned him about two recent incidents when tear gas was used against protesters. Mr. Harvick said he was not present at either incident, but that it was his understanding that agents on the scene had given warnings and had legitimate concerns about their own safety. Protesters who were present have disputed those claims in court filings.
According to government filings, Mr. Harvick is deputy incident commander of the Trump administration’s Chicago-area deportation operation, which it calls Operation Midway Blitz. The operation began in early September.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the administration say the tactics used by federal agents to disperse crowds have violated their constitutional rights. Filings in the case document instances of federal agents using pepper balls, pepper spray and tear gas against protesters, journalists and members of the clergy with little or no warning.
Judge Ellis, who was named to the bench by President Barack Obama, found the plaintiffs’ case to be credible enough to issue a temporary order on Oct. 9, barring the use of tear gas and other munitions against protesters throughout the Chicago area “who are not posing an immediate threat.”
Since that order, though, federal agents have been captured on video using tear gas in Chicago neighborhoods, and Judge Ellis said she was “profoundly concerned” that the limits she had set were being violated.
On Friday, Judge Ellis ordered federal agents who have body cameras to turn them on while conducting immigration arrests and while interacting with protesters and other members of the public in the Chicago area. She imposed that requirement over objections from the government about the practicalities of using the cameras and about the extent of judge’s authority.
Judge Ellis has said she wants to question federal officials in court on Monday about their use of tear gas and about two tense incidents in which agents clashed with residents in Chicago.
One of those clashes occurred on Oct. 12 in the Albany Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side, when agents stopped a resident and a crowd formed in reaction. Tear gas was used.
The other clash happened two days later on the South Side, when agents fired tear gas into a crowd that had gathered after a car crash involving federal agents.
In court last week, Judge Ellis sounded frustrated as she cited news reports suggesting that the limits she imposed on the use of tear gas were being disregarded. “I don’t live in a cave,” she said. “I’m seriously concerned that my orders aren’t being followed.”
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