Border Patrol agents shoot woman in Chicago as protesters confront ICE personnel
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A demonstrator receiving assistance after law enforcement officers used tear gas in the Little Village neighbourhood of Chicago, Illinois, on Oct 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- US Border Patrol shot an armed woman in Chicago after she rammed vehicles used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- Protests erupted in Chicago against the increased federal presence, with ICE agents using pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.
- Illinois Governor Pritzker criticised President Trump's demand to deploy the National Guard, calling it "outrageous and unAmerican”.
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CHICAGO - US Border Patrol personnel shot an armed woman in Chicago on Oct 4, the Department of Homeland Security said, as scores of protesters faced off against federal immigration agents on the city’s south-west side.
No law enforcement officers were seriously injured in the incident, in which a group that included the woman rammed cars into vehicles used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.
The woman, a US citizen who was not identified, drove herself to the hospital, according to the statement. No additional information was immediately available about the woman’s condition.
ICE agents fired pepper spray and loaded rubber bullets as part of heated exchanges with protesters on Oct 4.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a post on X that she was sending additional “special operations” to control the scene in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighbourhood.
The woman was armed with a semi-automatic gun, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Oct 4 that he was given an ultimatum by Republican President Donald Trump to deploy the state’s National Guard.
“It is absolutely outrageous and unAmerican to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Mr Pritzker said in a statement.
Mr Trump authorised 300 National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Reuters in a statement.
People in the Chicago area have staged repeated protests condemning the stepped-up federal presence. On Oct 3, police scuffled with hundreds of protesters
On multiple occasions, demonstrators sitting on the ground attempting to block ICE vehicles from carrying detainees into the facility have been repelled by heavily armed ICE agents using physical force, chemical munitions and rubber bullets, evoking combat scenes.
Protesters have decried what they call similar heavy-handed policing in other Democratic-run cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Portland, Oregon. REUTERS
ICE agents fired pepper spray during heated exchanges with Chicago protesters on Oct 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
