Copyright talkingpointsmemo
The Trump administration wants everyone to see what it’s doing in Chicago. The city is bearing the brunt of mass deportations. Over the past several weeks, federal agents have staged aggressive, high-profile operations. They’ve prompted protests, violence and potential violations of court orders over the use of tear gas. Through that chaos, Oct. 4 stands out. That day saw ICE and CBP officers clash with protestors along Kedzie street on the city’s South Side, a strip of road that runs through neighborhoods with large Latino populations and industrial areas into a series of rolling suburbs. TPM obtained the audio of several 911 calls placed that day. In one call, a federal agent describes being rammed and run off the road by an unknown assailant. In another, a woman sobs as she describes seeing federal law enforcement officers force a man out of his car and point rifles at him as he lies down in the street. It’s an example of the tactics that the Trump administration has unleashed on Chicago and several other cities, which often resemble more the occupation of a hostile power than routine immigration enforcement. On Oct. 4, one incident ended in a shooting: a CBP officer allegedly shot Miramar Martinez, an activist who was tailing the CBP car, several times before she drove away. Federal prosecutors charged Martinez with using a vehicle to assault, resist, or impede federal agents; a press release DHS issued about the event falsely stated that she “boxed” the CBP car in with nine other vehicles. (When TPM asked DHS for comment for this story, an agency spokesperson replied by forwarding TPM the press release from the day which contained information that has subsequently been contradicted in government court filings.) TPM obtained the recordings via an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request to Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Among the 911 recordings obtained by TPM is a call from a man who identifies himself as a federal agent. Details of the call appear to correspond to what federal law enforcement has described as a separate ramming incident that took place around one hour after the Martinez shooting, two blocks further north along Kedzie. After identifying himself as a federal agent, the man says that he “just got rammed right off the road.” “The suspect fled on foot, we weren’t able to catch him,” the person says. Information including the caller’s name, badge number, and phone number has been removed from the recording. He did not identify to which agency he belonged on the unredacted portions of the call. The man adds that the person who rammed the car was hispanic, and drove a black Chevy Tahoe. Per an FBI bulletin, the incident has not yet resulted in charges. Another call gives a look at the panic that these operations can prompt. The caller says that ICE agents are on her block. They “slammed” a man to the ground, and “the agents started beating him up,” the person says. “They have rifles and they’re pointing it at people.” The dispatcher asks if anyone needs an ambulance. To that, the caller replies that the man was unarmed but that “they’re beating him up.” “We have rights, we’re citizens here, please help us,” the person says. After the incidents, the Trump administration started using the “domestic terrorist” label to describe civilians involved and later charged. It was a turning point in the Chicago surge: later that day, President Trump moved to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard. The state challenged the legality of that move, a case the administration has appealed to the Supreme Court.
