An investigation by the police in Brookfield, Ill., backed an activist’s account of being assaulted by an off-duty federal agent as he was filming the agent putting gas in his car, according to a police report released on Friday.
The agent, Adam Saracco of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was charged last week with misdemeanor battery, a rare enforcement action by local authorities against a federal agent. The activist, Robert Held, had been protesting at the Broadview Processing Center, a detention facility near Brookfield where hundreds of immigrant detainees have been held. He and other activists have been recording ICE activities and agents at the urging of local elected leaders, including Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois.
Mr. Held told The New York Times last week that he had followed Mr. Saracco in late December after the agent left the Broadview facility, and an altercation occurred. Mr. Saracco, who according to the police report initially denied being a law enforcement agent, told police officers who were called to the scene that Mr. Held “began walking up to his vehicle” and recording him on his phone while he was pumping gas into his car.
Mr. Held has said he was standing on the sidewalk recording when Mr. Saracco approached him.
After reviewing camera footage and talking to witnesses, investigators determined that the encounter had occurred at the far corner of the parking lot “near the public sidewalk,” the report said, backing Mr. Held’s claim. Mr. Saracco did not dispute that he had initiated physical contact when he tried to take Mr. Held’s phone.
During the confrontation, Mr. Held fought to hold onto his phone, and the agent wrestled him to the ground, according to the report. After the fight, a bystander began filming as Mr. Held and Mr. Saracco continued to argue, with Mr. Saracco asking why he was being recorded and Mr. Held asserting that he was one of the federal agents who were engaged in violations of human rights.
“You’re following me,” Mr. Saracco yelled, according to the report. “You can’t just expect to follow people and not face consequences.”
In a statement earlier this week, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman with the Department of Homeland Security, said that the officer had been “targeted and aggressively harassed by a known ICE agitator with a prior arrest outside the ICE Broadview facility. While off duty and driving home in his personal vehicle, the officer was stalked by this individual to a local gas station.”
The statement said that “the agitator” had recorded the agent at close range and captured images of the officer’s personal license plate. “These were clear attempts to dox our officer. The officer, who was alone and without protective equipment, acted to protect himself when faced with this threatening behavior.”
It added, “We won’t accept this. Stay tuned.”
Mr. Held, a 68-year-old lawyer and Air Force veteran, said that the D.H.S. statement included multiple false claims. “I didn’t stalk anyone. What she calls ‘malicious rhetoric,’ I call documentation,” Mr. Held said, referring to Ms. McLaughlin. “What she calls ‘agitation,’ I call accountability. What she calls a ‘threat,’ a local police department and prosecutor call battery.”
He said the prior arrest the D.H.S. appeared to be referring to was probably an incident in which he was detained for eight hours after protesting at Broadview but never charged with a crime. “I do not know why they held me,” he said.
The Cook County state attorney’s office said it had considered a felony charge against the agent but ultimately decided on a misdemeanor.
Mr. Saracco’s court date is set for March.
Danny Hakim is a reporter on the Investigations team at The Times, focused primarily on politics.
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