Broadview’s mayor and police chief on Tuesday called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop using chemical agents on protesters and appealed for the agency to respond to several requests, including information about three criminal investigations the suburb has initiated that involve ICE agents.
“We are experiencing an immediate health safety crisis,” Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills said at a news conference. “The deployment of tear gas, pepper spray, mace and rubber bullets by ICE near the processing center in the village of Broadview is creating a dangerous situation for the community and all first responders.”
Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson echoed the police chief, saying the fumes from chemical agents deployed by ICE affect more than the immediate area.
“The gas clouds generally irritate people within 200 to 700 feet, but the wind can carry it farther,” Thompson said. She said Broadview’s first responders and nearby residents have both been affected by the chemical agents, adding, “It has to stop.”
The compound has been ground zero for protests since the Trump administration announced the launch of stepped-up immigration enforcement in the Chicago area on Sept. 8, bringing a flood of federal immigration officers to the Chicago area. The administration has since called for 100 military troops to be sent to Illinois to protect ICE agents.
Mills also said he sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Field Director Russell Hott via email and certified mail Monday regarding three criminal investigations. He said Broadview police are investigating two hit-and-run accidents that are vehicle-versus-pedestrian incidents and one criminal damage to property incident involving a news reporter — believed to be an incident involving someone shooting a pepper ball at CBS2 reporter Assal Razi on Saturday.
Mills confirmed he received a response from Hott, who indicated that he would cooperate. He added that Hott also asked for cooperation from Broadview police regarding a few ICE vehicles that were damaged. However, Mills said he was only aware of one incident and said his police department already made a report about it.
Both Thompson and Mills pushed back on recent claims by the DHS that Broadview has been ignoring emergency calls from the ICE facility on Beach Street, characterizing such claims as false.
“DHS claims that the Broadview Police Department has received and unanswered multiple calls for service from the ICE facility. That is totally false,” Mills said. “Our message from the beginning is that we will respond to every call for service.”
Thompson also said the DHS claims were “false,” adding that “our police log is clear, accurate and truthful.”
Mills, Thompson and acting Fire Chief Matthew Martin also reiterated their demand that ICE take down a fence that it installed across Beach Street without permission Sept. 23, calling it a public safety hazard.
Calling it an “illegally constructed fence,” Martin said, “This fence is currently blocking access by the Broadview Fire Department to business on that road. In case of a fire or other emergency, our apparatus cannot use the road to get to the scene. Each day this fence remains, the risk of tragedy increases.”
Martin added that DHS has not responded to several requests regarding the fence. When asked if Broadview can remove the fence on its own, he said the village is considering all options.
Joining Broadview officials Tuesday were Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero; Oak Park Mayor Vicki Scaman; Forest Park Mayor Rory Haskins; and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said she was there as a private citizen to support Broadview’s Thompson as both a fellow Black female mayor and friend.
At a separate news conference, Gov. JB Pritzker said the state would provide Broadview officials with requested supplies, including gas masks for police officers.
“We want to keep the people of Broadview safe … not just protesters. We’re talking about people who are just walking their kids to school, living their lives in Broadview. They deserve peace. That is why ICE needs to back off, and that is why the president of the United States should not send troops to the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
Letter probes DHS on fatal ICE shooting
Also Tuesday, several Illinois representatives in Congress sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security asking about the fatal ICE shooting of an alleged undocumented immigrant during a Sept. 12 traffic stop in suburban Franklin Park.
Video of the incident appears to contradict authorities’ claims that 38-year-old Mexican national Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was dragging an ICE officer before two officers opened fire, killing him.
U.S. Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Delia Ramirez and U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth made their inquiry “with grave concern” after the continued “ramping up [of] immigration enforcement operations across the Chicago area.”
Contributing: Mitchell Armentrout