Cops, protesters injured and 21 arrested after scuffles erupt during Broadview ICE facility protest

What started as a peaceful protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview erupted into shoving and multiple arrests Friday morning.

Some protesters and four police officers were injured during the clash, and 21 demonstrators, including faith leaders, were arrested.

Based on reporting and releases from the Department of Homeland Security and the Cook County sheriff’s office, it appeared to be the highest number of arrests made outside the suburban facility since the start of “Operation Midway Blitz,” President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area that started in early September.

The 21 arrests, made by Illinois State Police troopers and Cook County sheriff’s deputies, happened about 10 a.m., an hour after the protest, which drew over 100 demonstrators, started outside the facility at 1930 Beach St.

In a statement, the Cook County sheriff’s office said, “as members of the Unified Command were allowing peaceful protest in Broadview this morning, approximately 50 protesters decided to exit the designated protest area and unlawfully enter the roadway.

As they were unlawfully assembling in the roadway, four officers sustained injuries while trying to redirect them back behind the jersey barriers.”

Officers from the Cook County sheriff’s office, State Police and Broadview police were on hand during the event. During the fray, several demonstrators could be heard yelling and chanting as a Broadview police officer pulled out a taser and shot it in the air as an apparent warning.

Officers, many holding batons and zip ties, could be heard repeating: “Stand back! Stand back! Stand back, or you’re gonna go.”

Several protesters were forced to the ground during the confrontation.

Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at Lake Street Church in Evanston, said faith leaders gathered at Broadview to try to celebrate that several hundred detainees would be released soon due to a recent judicial order.

Faith leaders have repeatedly formally requested to be allowed inside the facility to offer religious services and have been denied. An official at the detention facility declined access to faith leaders again by phone Friday morning.

“We have spiritual care to deliver, and our neighbors are being denied the right to their religious expression and to the small amount of comfort we might be able to deliver with communion or some other kind of support,” Westerfield said.

When she saw clergy of different faiths linking arms in the streets, Westerfield decided to join them. When the demonstration escalated, she was pushed to the ground and suffered bruises from the fall.

“For me, it was a spontaneous moment of wanting to join in with the people around me and do what we could to deliver some kind of comfort inside.”

Oak Park resident Sue Humphreys was trying to call for de-escalation as protesters spilled into the streets and the shoving began.

“It’s clearly against the United States Constitution, clearly against the rights of the people,” said Humphreys, 66. “It’s wild, and it needs to be stopped.”

In a statement, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said the injuries to the four officers was “unacceptable and outrageous.”

“I have repeatedly pleaded to protesters to raise their voices, not their fists. They have chosen their fists,” Thompson said in the statement. “These out-of-towners have chosen to brutalize police officers who have been protecting their free speech and protecting them against assaults by ICE agents. We will see them in court.”

Westerfield strongly disagreed with the mayor’s statement. “Even though many of us don’t live inside Broadview, we are still neighbors, and I do think that we belong there,” she said, adding she didn’t see a single raised fist or any protesters with weapons.

State Police confirmed of their officers “sustained minor injuries and was treated on scene.”

Broadview police did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal agents were not on the scene, and no tear gas, pepper balls or chemical agents were deployed.

Mike G., 36, said he was proud of those detained outside the facility Friday morning for “creating incredible optics of peaceful people getting arrested by the state for protesting human atrocity.”

“I think it is a sign that this is a place for everyone,” said Mike, who didn’t want to give his last name for privacy reasons. “You don’t need to find the right organization or right reason to be here.”

The Broadview facility has become a hotbed for ongoing and at times tense demonstrations since the federal deportation campaign began two months ago.

Last month, state and local officials set up a “unified command” for officers from the State Police, Cook County and Broadview police to jointly address public safety issues at the facility, along with designating “free speech” zones for demonstrators.

Curfew hours were set at the facility after demonstrations beginning sometimes as early as 5 a.m. and stretched late into the night, and crowds clashed with federal authorities. Free speech advocates have criticized the curfews as too restrictive.