The Department of Homeland Security released video Tuesday giving a broader view of the violent clash in Chicago last week between the Border Patrol and anti-ICE demonstrators that shows the unruly crowd harassing the agents, and an agent warning the crowd that tear gas would be used.
The video was posted to the department’s X account just as a senior official was defending his actions to a federal judge who suggested that Homeland Security personnel violated her restraining order by being too aggressive in suppressing demonstrators.
In the social media post, Homeland Security said agents were carrying illegal immigrants in a van when they were “attacked” by a “mob of rioters” who advanced, throwing objects including one that struck Gregory Bovino, Customs and Border Protection’s commander-at-large, who is leading President Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Chicago.
The video shows what Homeland Security said was a rock, as it rolled away from where Chief Bovino was standing. It also shows another object being tossed and hitting an agent, and mortar-style fireworks being launched in the agents’ direction.
And the video shows at least one agent warning to “get back or you will be gassed” — undercutting the claims of the protesters who said they were never warned.
The video says the confrontation happened after agents in a vehicle were “boxed in” by “four suspected gang members.” Aerial surveillance footage showed them “fleeing down an alley, changing [license] plates and retrieving high-powered weapons,” Homeland Security officials said in the video, which was accompanied by scary, haunting music.
The video then cuts to a confrontation between agents and one woman and one man who viciously taunt them, and say they are summoning other protesters to the scene.
“All y’all daughters gonna get raped,” the woman says, seemingly encouraging the man to call associates to join the fray.
“They’re about to come over here and ram the [expletive] out of all y’all [expletive],” the woman said.
“They gonna come deep,” the man then says. “Y’all better watch it.”
An agent cautions back, “Don’t be threatening us, bro.”
The video then shows the confrontation as agents try to extract the boxed-in vehicle, with the unruly crowd getting in the face of agents and agents pushing back, literally.
“Back up, back up!” they shout as they shove people out of the way.
The confrontation was the subject of a hearing called by Judge Sara Ellis, who said from the videos she’d seen that the government employees broke her restraining order.
Judge Ellis, according to those in the courthouse Tuesday, told Chief Bovino that in the video she saw there was no warning before tear gas.
She also demanded that agents do a better job of having an identifier on their uniforms for accountability purposes. And she directed Chief Bovino to get body-worn cameras for all those deployed in the area.
“The cameras are your friends,” the judge said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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