Judge Questions Feds About Using Tear Gas In Chicago

The federal government found itself back in court Monday to answer a judge’s questions about whether the Trump administration violated a court order by using tear gas against protesters and residents in the Chicago area recently, as well as other questions regarding “Operation Midway Blitz.”

According to the New York Times, Judge Sara L. Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said last week that she was “profoundly concerned” that the government was ignoring her previous order limiting agents’ use of tear gas against protesters, questioning Kyle C. Harvick — who, according to government records, is the deputy incident commander for Operation Midway Blitz — about two recent incidents when tear gas was used against protesters.

Harvick reportedly told the judge he wasn’t there for either event, but it was his understanding that protesters received several warnings before tear gas was deployed. He claims that unruly protesters refused to comply, which is generally how Trump administration officials have always excused allegations of violating the civil rights of citizens who live in areas where ICE and other federal agents are running wild.

And, as usual, those citizens are telling a different story.

From the Times:

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.

So, the Trump administration had a problem with an order requiring officers of the law to have their bodycams turned on while making arrests, huh? Sounds like a government with plenty to hide besides its ICE agents’ faces.

According to CBS News, Ellis admonished federal officials on Friday for failing to follow through with her order from the day before to begin issuing body-worn cameras for all federal officers in Chicago, which is already a wild thing for them to just now be doing anyway.

“Maybe I wasn’t clear yesterday. That wasn’t a suggestion,” she said. “I am modifying the [temporary restraining order] to include body-worn cameras. … It’s not up for debate.”

On Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded by denying any such order ever existed, saying Sunday that “there is currently no order requiring body cameras, and any suggestion to the contrary is false reporting,” as if she was confusing a federal judge’s order with a report from the “fake news” media.

“DHS will continue to oppose all efforts to vilify law enforcement and prop up the cause of violent rioters. Were a court to enter such an order in the future, that would be an extreme act of judicial activism,” McLaughlin added.

Leave it to the Trump administration to think accountability is vilification and a judge’s requirement that cops wear equipment that records their actions while interacting with civilians is “judicial activism.”

It’s almost as if we’re dealing with a fascist regime.

NBC Chicago reports that Judge Ellis cleared the path for “Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and other immigration officials to be questioned under oath about agents’ use of chemical agents on protesters, journalists and clergy in the Chicago area.”

That approval from Federal Judge Sara Ellis came after an hours-long hearing in which she questioned two top deputy officials with both Border Patrol and ICE over their agents’ use of force.

During the hearing, Border Patrol official Kyle Harvick testified that all Border Patrol agents go under training related to use of force and that their reports are generated within 24 to 72 hours of when those things occur.

Since the Trump administration began its increased immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area last month, Harvick said that no CBP agents had been disciplined for use of force violations.

At least someone is attempting to hold this administration accountable for its actions.

SEE ALSO:

Federal Judge Rules ICE Must Wear Body Cameras In Chicago

Federal Judge Places Restrictions On ICE Arrests In Chicago

Federal Judge Questions Trump Officials About ICE Agents In Chicago Using Tear Gas And Not Wearing Bodycams  was originally published on newsone.com