OLD IRVING PARK – Federal agents unleashed chemical irritants on Chicago-area residents for the fourth day in a row Saturday morning, according to witnesses.
Agents deployed tear gas on civilians Saturday morning at two separate locations on the Northwest Side, in Old Irving Park and Avondale, according to social media posts and rapid responders.
A little before 10 a.m. near the intersection of Kildare Avenue and Grace Street in Old Irving Park, federal agents tear-gassed neighbors responding to the scene of an arrest, neighbors said.
Three people were arrested by federal agents in Old Irving Park, including two American citizens, according to neighbors and a Homeland Security spokesperson.
The first of those detained on Kildare Avenue was 35-year-old father and construction worker Luis Villegas, who was working on a personal project when agents chased him down and arrested him, his family told ABC-7. The two others arrested were a woman on a bike and a 70-year-old man preparing for a marathon, according to neighbors.
In a statement, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that the “two U.S. citizens were arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer,” and accused Villegas of having a previous assault charge without providing proof of the 35-year-old man’s criminal background.
“Our officers are facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, abusers, and gang members,” the statement read. “Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
During the Old Irving Park encounter, a 67-year-old woman was “knocked to the ground” by masked agents, an ICE rapid responder told Block Club. The clash occurred just before the Old Irving Park Association Halloween Parade was set to march down the street, disrupting the event, neighbors said in a local rapid response chat.
Around 9:45 a.m. Saturday, James Hotchkiss was leaving his home to attend the nearby costume parade with his wife and children when he heard whistles in the area, which is a rapid response tactic to alert of ICE sightings. He told his family to stay inside and approached the sound.
Hotchkiss saw a black SUV, two silver SUVs and officers turning south onto Kildare from Grace.
“At that point, I saw a man running towards me followed by 2-3 officers chasing after him. They tackled him onto a neighbor’s front yard.”
A large group of neighbors, some still in their pajamas, gathered at the scene to heckle the officers arresting Villegas, Hotchkiss said. After getting into verbal altercations with rapid responders attempting to block their paths of exit, agents hopped out of their cars, put on their gas masks and attacked at least two different people, he said.
Around 9:55, Hotchkiss saw smoke in the air and heard several neighbors yell that agents had deployed tear gas.
“I took my glasses off because my eyes were burning,” he said. “I saw someone pour water on a gas canister that appeared to be on fire.”
In the midst of the chaos, Hotchkiss witnessed agents forcing two neighbors on the ground, forcefully arresting them. The unmarked SUVs drove away a little after 10 a.m. with the three detained people, Hotchkiss said.
The 70-year-old man was released with some injuries, neighbors said.
“These actions are harmful, traumatic, illegal and uncalled for,” said State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, in a Facebook post.
About 10:30 a.m., near the intersection of Harding Avenue and Roscoe Street in Avondale, agents threw out tear gas at neighbors responding to another arrest, according to a rapid responder. Details surrounding the arrest remained unclear.
Neighbors saw at least one person detained during the Avondale confrontation, according to a rapid responder who tried to follow an unmarked federal vehicle away from the scene.
The two instances of tear gas deployment Saturday follow several instances of tear gas use throughout the week as part of federal actions in Operation Midway Blitz and Operation At Large. On Wednesday, Federal agents used pepper spray on neighbors near a grocery store in Cicero; on Thursday, agents tear gassed dozens of residents – including several high school students – near Little Village’s Discount Mall; and on Friday, roughly 50 Lakeview neighbors were tear-gassed near a residential construction site.
Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino is being accused of violating a federal judge’s order for tear-gassing a crowd in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood during the Thursday standoff in Little Village.
A Homeland Security Department representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Saturday’s operations.
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