Aldermen call for hearing into Chicago police response to ICE demonstration

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Members of the City Council's Latino Caucus are calling for an investigation into how Chicago police responded to the Wednesday demonstration outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office in the South Loop, where federal agents detained immigrants and clashed with aldermen.
Twelve of the 14 aldermen in the caucus signed a letter condemning the high-profile showdown at 2245 S. Michigan Ave. The council's Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights — which Latino Caucus Chair Ald. Andre Vasquez leads — will hold a hearing 'to examine the extent of ICE's misconduct and determine whether the Chicago Police Department played any role in (Wednesday's) actions,' according to the letter.
In a Wednesday evening statement, the Police Department denied that officers aided the federal agents.
'We condemn in the strongest terms ICE's unlawful detainment practices,' the statement from Latino Caucus members read. 'We stand united in calling for a full investigation into the conduct of ICE agents involved in this operation and for the immediate release of all individuals detained under these unlawful circumstances.'
Vasquez told the Tribune the committee later this month hopes to call Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling and Mayor Brandon Johnson's deputy mayors Garien Gatewood and Beatriz Ponce de Leon, who oversee community safety and immigration rights, respectively. He cited 'conflicting' information on the events at the ICE office and said 'we just want to make sure that protocols are being followed properly related to CPD.'
Johnson on Thursday sidestepped questions on whether he had full confidence in the police response or whether it was appropriate for City Council to probe CPD's actions.
'Look, I think it's important that we assess the entire situation,' the mayor said while speaking to reporters at a National Immigrant Heritage Month event. 'And so assessing what happened to ensure that when the actions of the federal government come up against our values, that the full force of government is showing up in an emphatic way, but in a way that upholds our Welcoming City ordinance.'
Johnson then pivoted to attack an easier political target, President Donald Trump, and shouted out the protesters as 'the resistance that we need.'
'We saw armed, masked men walk down our streets in broad daylight, and they kidnapped mothers and fathers. We saw them brutalize protesters and shove crying grandmothers into the back of unmarked vans,' he said.
A source who spoke with Snelling said Chicago police officers were responding to an emergency call about a safety threat and realized upon arrival that their presence could look like they were partnering with ICE. Police leadership planned to scale back, the source said, but by then a mass gathering was convening so CPD had to stay.
In his Wednesday statement, Chicago police spokesperson Tom Ahern said CPD began an emergency response at the courthouse Wednesday after receiving two calls of an officer needing assistance. At the scene, Chicago police officers spoke with individuals inside the building and in the large crowd outside 'to ensure the safety of all involved, including those exercising their First Amendment rights.'
'Officers arrived without knowledge of immigration enforcement occurring at the location,' Ahern said. 'At no point did CPD assist in immigration enforcement. All actions taken by CPD during this incident were in accordance with CPD policy and the City of Chicago Municipal Code.'
The upcoming City Council hearing could potentially pit the Johnson administration against progressives on the issue of policing. His choice to tap Snelling for the top cop role in 2023 was widely lauded, especially from pro-law enforcement types who worried about his earlier 'defund the police' rhetoric before he ran for mayor. Johnson has since had Snelling's back publicly as Chicago sees a drop in crime, though the superintendent has broken with the mayor on the issue of ShotSpotter and a pending teen curfew ordinance in City Council.
Ald. Jessie Fuentes, a progressive who participated in the Wednesday demonstrations, told the Tribune, 'We are concerned with police officers' prolonged appearance inside of the office where individuals were detained by ICE.'
'When CPD arrived and realized what the situation was, the responding Commander should have gotten his officers out and briefed the community,' Fuentes wrote in a text. 'Instead the Responding Commander was rude to electeds, did not coordinate his officers properly and now the perception is CPD was working with ICE.'
A statement from The Resurrection Project, an immigrant advocacy group, alleged that at least 20 immigrants were detained by ICE during their check-ins — and echoed Fuentes' misgivings on CPD.
'We are deeply concerned to see that Chicago police provided material assistance to ICE, making this mass deportation possible by blocking traffic and providing initial crowd control,' the Wednesday statement said. 'The only people they protected were federal agents tearing our community members away from the people who love and depend on them. This kind of collaboration is an apparent violation of the Illinois Trust Act that degrades public trust in law enforcement.'
By Wednesday afternoon, elected officials, including Alds. Anthony Quezada, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez and Fuentes had joined the growing number of protesters at the ICE office. The Latino Caucus statement said 'Quezada was physically assaulted by an ICE agent—struck with a baton and thrown to the ground multiple times' while Sigcho-Lopez, Rodriguez Sanchez and Fuentes told the Tribune they were also jostled.