The Chicago Council of Lawyers condemns what is happening with purported immigration enforcement in Broadview, Illinois. Greg Bovino, federal enforcement commander, is orchestrating an assault on First Amendment rights that is unconscionable, pretextual and cannot be tolerated. These tactical operations aren’t about law enforcement; they’re about sending a chilling message to anyone who would dare speak out. Peaceful demonstrators are being met with high-velocity pepper projectiles—powerful weapons that cause intense burning, severe irritation to the eyes and skin, and can incapacitate a person. This is not crowd control; these are acts of intimidation and political theater.
The right to free expression lies at the very heart of our democracy, yet armed federal agents are systematically attacking journalists, legal observers, and peaceful protesters alike. The National Lawyers Guild has documented federal agents firing rubber bullets at legal observers, targeting press with clear identification, and deploying tear gas without warning or orders to disperse. Two legal observers were shot with rubber bullets, and one was injured when a flashbang grenade exploded near their face. Notably, at the time of such violent and senseless acts there were only a handful of protesters in the immediate vicinity of the abusive officers, and no credible nor immediate threat to the federal agents existed.
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson has courageously stood up to this federal overreach, calling on ICE to “stop making war on our community” after witnessing the “relentless deployment of tear gas, pepper spray, mace, and rubber bullets.” In retaliation, ICE agents told Broadview police there would be “a s*** show” and threatened to deploy chemical agents throughout the village. Police Chief Thomas Mills was verbally attacked by an ICE agent, subjected to multiple expletives and called a coward for attempting to maintain professional standards during these confrontations.
Even Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, when participating in peaceful protest, was tear-gassed and witnessed federal agents driving a van into the crowd before deploying chemical weapons. These are not the actions of professional law enforcement—they are the tactics of an authoritarian regime seeking to crush dissent through violence.
Bovino’s leadership in this operation, posing for photo ops while First Amendment freedoms are being crushed under the weight of militarized tactics, reveals a deeper, more troubling agenda. This is a political spectacle, designed to silence voices and instill fear. The protesters aren’t just defending their beliefs—they are defending the bedrock principles of free expression and assembly that define our constitutional democracy.
The arrest of a journalist and the targeting of legal observers and peaceful demonstrators represents a direct assault on the pillars of a democratic society. When federal agents fire pepper balls and deploy tear gas without adequate provocation, they are not enforcing the law—they are breaking it. The right to protest, to observe others doing so, and to report on government actions is fundamental to accountability in a free society.
We demand an independent investigation into these actions in Broadview. We call for full accountability, including the removal of Greg Bovino and any officials who orchestrated this crackdown. This is about more than acts of violent aggression —it’s about protecting the fundamental right of every person to express their beliefs without fear of government retaliation, violence, and repression.
Greg Bovino and his federal agents have declared war on the Constitution itself. They have chosen violence over dialogue, intimidation over justice, and authoritarianism over democracy. But they have gravely miscalculated. Every pepper ball fired strengthens the resolve of those committed to freedom of expression. Every tear gas canister deployed deepens that commitment. Every act of brutality against peaceful protesters only proves what is at stake—the sacred right to dissent—and that right is worth defending with everything we have.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers will not stand idly by. We will not rest until those responsible for this assault on our democracy are held accountable. The constitutional right to free expression is non-negotiable, and neither is our determination to protect it.