State, county and local law enforcement agencies policing protests outside the ICE facility in west suburban Broadview have announced the designated protest zone will now include part of Beach Street, according to a statement Tuesday.
A portion of Beach Street south of Lexington Avenue will link the two areas that have been sectioned off by concrete barriers since Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson signed an executive order limiting the times and locations where people could protest. Litigation against the order is pending.
The group of law enforcement agencies said they were “eliminating an area of danger to protesters, officers and drivers” with the move.
“In order to further protect the safety of protesters, Broadview residents and businesses, officers, and drivers, the temporary unified command is expanding the designated protest area near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility,” the statement said.
The statement said more than 4,000 people have protested — the “overwhelming majority of them peacefully” — outside the ICE facility over the last month.
Thompson this week declared a “civil emergency” in the suburb, citing threats against herself and village hall, as well as protesters saying they would show up to board meetings. Thompson’s executive order will keep the meetings online until she determines the “imminent threat to village officials and property is no longer present.”