Tensions flared on Sept. 26 outside an ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois, as protesters clashed with federal agents during riots aimed at the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that law enforcement made 17 arrests during the morning of the protest in Broadview and that more arrests could occur.
More than 200 protesters gathered near the gate in front of the facility, while dozens more crowded another entrance, chanting “Arrest ICE, Shoot ICE,” according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop. There is no place in American politics for violence,” McLaughlin said in a statement, while urging Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to condemn the riots.
Federal agents also confiscated a gun from one rioter who was apprehended at the scene.
Federal agents deployed tear gas and pepper balls to disperse protesters gathering outside the ICE facility after some attempted to block a vehicle approaching the building.
Footage circulated on social media showed a crowd of protesters surrounding a black SUV, trying to prevent it from moving forward while banging on the car’s windows.
DHS stated that the rioters came prepared with boxes of fireworks, N95 masks, gas masks, goggles, protective gear for knees and elbows, and food and water supplies.
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson wrote to the DHS on Sept. 26, saying that residents had reached out to her “looking for help” because of the chemicals used by federal agents near the ICE facility.
Thompson also demanded that ICE remove the fence she said was “illegally constructed” around the facility, noting that it was preventing firefighters from accessing the area.
On the same day, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered that Justice Department agents be deployed to ICE facilities nationwide to protect federal personnel. Bondi instructed the agents to arrest anyone found engaging in federal crimes.
The riots at the Broadview facility occurred two days after a Sept. 24 incident in Dallas, when a sniper opened fire from a nearby rooftop at an ICE field office, killing one detainee and injuring two others. The gunman was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
No law enforcement personnel were hurt in the shooting. Authorities later recovered an unspent shell casing engraved with an “anti-ICE” message at the scene, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.
DHS stated that assaults on ICE officers have risen by more than 1,000 percent this year.
On Aug. 25, a bomb threat was reported on an ICE facility in Dallas when a man, identified as Bratton Dean Wilkinson, showed up at the entrance claiming to have a bomb in his backpack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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