Assist justice-driven, correct and clear information — make a fast donation to Truthout at this time!
In accordance with the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), greater than 900 individuals have been arrested for the reason that launch of “Operation Halfway Blitz” — a federal marketing campaign of terror the administration has waged in opposition to Chicagoland since September 8 — although that quantity has not been independently confirmed.
On the evening of September 30, lots of of federal brokers surrounded and stormed a complete South Shore residence constructing close to seventy fifth Road and South Shore Drive. Brokers rappelled from helicopters onto the constructing’s roof, broke down doorways, and forcibly eliminated residents and non-citizens alike from their houses in the course of the assault. Neighbors say kids have been taken from their beds and zip-tied collectively. Among the kids have been reportedly bare as they have been compelled into the road, the place they remained for hours, earlier than some have been dragged into vans. As neighbors expressed concern for the kids, one witness claims an agent laughed and stated, “fuck them youngsters.” Residents report that their houses have been kind of looted, with toys and private papers scattered throughout hallways. One resident whose door was not efficiently knocked down in the course of the raid stated that his electronics and furnishings have been seized whereas he was at work the subsequent day.
Friday morning, within the village of Broadview close to Chicago, Illinois state police arrested individuals who tried to dam Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) automobiles, in a bid to localize crowd management of protests outdoors the Broadview ICE facility, the place protesters have tried to disrupt ICE exercise, and ICE brokers have regularly responded with tear gasoline, pepper balls, and foam baton rounds.
The Illinois state police have been joined by police from the county sheriff’s division, who insisted they have been there for our safety. Nonetheless, when protesters tried to maneuver into the road, they have been violently corralled onto sidewalks by the state and county police. Regardless that the protesters had successfully been contained on this method, ICE brokers ultimately marched up Harvard Road and attacked the group anyway — an motion that state and county police participated in.
The federal brokers have been accompanied by a digicam crew and used drones to movie the assault, which preceded the passage of Kristi Noem’s motorcade by way of the world. Just like the assault in South Shore, the second appeared to have been aimed toward content material creation. Quite a few protesters and journalists have been manhandled and brutalized by brokers, myself included. 5 activists have been arrested.
On Friday, within the Logan Sq. neighborhood, federal brokers deployed tear gasoline from an SUV in the course of a residential neighborhood — simply blocks from an elementary college and a grocery retailer. The incident was caught on video. Witnesses say the brokers have been being heckled by neighbors as they rolled down the road. A federal agent rolled down a window and lobbed a tear gasoline canister straight into the road. The cloud drifted towards houses, towards households. “For no motive, [they] tear gassed the entire crowd,” one witness informed NBC Chicago. DHS has supplied no clarification or touch upon the incident.
That very same day, Chicago Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed by federal brokers in Humboldt Park whereas attempting to talk with them about their presence within the neighborhood hospital.
On Saturday morning in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, Border Patrol brokers shot a girl close to thirty ninth Road and Kedzie Avenue. The official justification for this capturing has been fantastical and shape-shifting in nature. In one model, the girl was armed with a semi‑computerized weapon, and brokers fired “defensive photographs.” In one other, she was merely caught within the crossfire — struck when brokers opened fireplace on another person allegedly attempting to run the brokers over. (DHS beforehand claimed that Silverio Villegas Gonzalez tried to run ICE brokers over, alleging that one agent was critically injured, earlier than the brokers shot and killed Villegas Gonzalez in Chicago on September 12 — a narrative that doesn’t match out there proof.) DHS additionally claimed that the girl they shot had been recognized in a Customs and Border Safety intelligence bulletin for doxing federal brokers. None of those allegations — about weapons, automobiles, or on-line threats — have been verified. There is no such thing as a video, no photograph, no credible witness account to again DHS’s contortionist claims, which ought to be thought to be fascist propaganda.
What is understood: the girl survived. She drove herself to the hospital, was handled for gunshot wounds, and launched. When neighbors gathered to protest the capturing, federal brokers unleashed tear gasoline, pepper balls, and foam rounds— putting demonstrators, authorized observers, journalists, and folks simply attempting to get dwelling. Chicago police have been additionally visibly overwhelmed by tear gasoline.
On Saturday, the Trump administration introduced that he would ship the Nationwide Guard to Chicago. White Home spokeswoman Abigail Jackson informed the press, “President Trump has authorised 300 nationwide guardsmen to guard federal officers and belongings.”
On Saturday, a federal decide in Oregon blocked Trump’s try to federalize that state’s Nationwide Guard to ship troops into Portland. In her ruling, Choose Karin Immergut wrote that the administration’s justification was “merely untethered to the details,” discovering no proof of the sort of widespread chaos that would legally justify deploying the Guard over a governor’s objections. The order, which lasts till no less than October 18, makes clear that states nonetheless have constitutional standing to withstand federal takeover of their Nationwide Guard items. Whether or not the administration will respect the courtroom’s ruling, or if this resolution will strengthen the hand of metropolis and state officers resisting the federal invasion of Chicago, stays to be seen.
The immigration disaster the administration claims to be responding to isn’t any disaster in any respect. Chicago is a welcoming metropolis. We’ve got sanctuary insurance policies. Immigrants are welcome right here. The president is waging warfare on our metropolis for welcoming these he needs to expel. DHS is terrorizing our communities and staging violent spectacles to supply fascist propaganda — and typically, for what seems to be purely leisure violence. This can be a pivotal second within the wrestle in opposition to fascism and authoritarianism. To disregard what’s occurring in Chicagoland can be a damning mistake. Trump is normalizing assaults on blue cities as a result of he intends to overpower hubs of democratic resistance. He plans to carry onto energy — and develop it — by any means mandatory, authorized constraints and elections be damned. The complete nation should elevate their voices in opposition to this aggression. In Chicago, activists and organizers are exhausted, however we’ll proceed to do all we will. Chicagoans won’t be a conquered individuals.
Media that fights fascism
Truthout is funded nearly completely by readers — that’s why we will communicate fact to energy and lower in opposition to the mainstream narrative. However impartial journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression underneath Trump.
We depend on your assist to outlive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or month-to-month donation.
