Copyright Chicago Sun-Times
Children in Teletubbies and pirate costumes traipsed down the streets of Old Irving Park on Sunday afternoon. But on Saturday, the air was thick with white clouds of tear gas as a chorus of whistles rang out as federal agents took three people — two of them U.S. citizens and one a rapid responder — into unmarked vehicles before “erratically” speeding off, according to at least three residents who witnessed it. A Halloween parade was canceled because of the incident. It’s the latest Chicago neighborhood where federal agents deployed chemical munitions. Neighborhoods including Lake View, Little Village, East Side, Albany Park, Brighton Park and Logan Square have been the scene of federal activity recently while other neighborhoods have already been targeted as part of “Operation Midway Blitz.” The first scene, in the 3700 block of North Kildare Avenue, heated up as agents detained Luis Villegas, a construction worker who was chased down the block and tackled on a lawn. Villegas has since been identified by family. His relatives didn’t immediately return a request for comment, though a fundraiser has raised more than $4,000 for his legal defense and to support his family. Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th) called the two uses of tear gas in her ward “unprovoked and deeply troubling attacks on our communities.” She said Villegas has been in the United States since he was 4 years old. The Department of Homeland Security said he had been accused and arrested — not convicted — of assault. “This is home for him,” Cruz told the Sun-Times on Sunday. “He has built his education, his family and his life here in Chicago.” Brian Kolp, a former prosecutor with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and counsel for the city of Chicago who once defended Chicago police officers in lawsuits, was watching news about a temporary restraining order issued against federal agents when agents pursuing Villegas subdued and detained him on Kolp’s front lawn. Kolp was barefoot and wearing Blackhawks pajama pants as he stepped from his front door to yell “Nazi” and “Gestapo” at the agents who dragged Villegas to a vehicle. Kolp said the agents pulled his 70-year-old neighbor out of his vehicle and slammed him to the ground as he arrived home. He saw another person on a bicycle also get detained. The arrests and tear gas deployment happened on a quiet residential block where a Halloween costume parade for children was scheduled hours later. DHS said in a statement that multiple warnings were issued before the tear gas was released, but Kolp said he heard none. U.S. District Judge Sarah Ellis had ruled that two verbal warnings must be given before chemical irritants and other munitions are used. She also barred agents from using them on people who aren’t immediate threats. “If a court tells you to do something, and you essentially give the court the middle finger and continue to do that, we’re at a serious point in terms of our country and the rule of law,” Kolp said. DHS said agents were “boxed in by agitators,” but Kolp said the group consisted of neighbors who had stepped out of their homes to film and shout at agents along with a handful of rapid responders on bikes. Another resident who witnessed the incident said the crowd consisted at most of 25 people. “These weren’t activists, these weren’t paid protesters, these were literally my neighbors coming out of their homes at 10 o’clock in the morning because they saw lawless agents acting in violent ways,” Kolp said. “There are only so many ways we can hold these folks accountable. If the courts can’t do it, Congress can’t do it, then it’s up to the community to do it.” Erin Sarris, 41, has lived in the neighborhood for eight years. She was on her way to the Halloween parade with her two 8-year-old daughters and 6-year-old son when she saw the cloud of tear gas waft up from the street. Children gathered at Disney II Magnet School for the parade to start, but it was called off. “It’s impossible to explain the concept of this to school-age kids like that and make them feel OK about it, because it’s not OK,” Sarris said. “It shatters their world view of what’s right, fair and appropriate in witnessing this.” Less than a mile away and around the same time Saturday, at the intersection of West Roscoe Street and North Harding Avenue, federal agents again deployed tear gas as residents shouted at them. Two of Ald. Cruz’s staffers were hit by the tear gas as they responded, though she said they had recovered and were “more eager than ever to ask what more they can do to protect their communities.” She said her staffers witnessed a woman thrown to the ground by agents, but they said no one was detained. “Seeing it in person really emphasized there’s nothing calculated or organized about it,” one resident who witnessed the tear gas deployment said of the ICE agents’ tactics. “It’s obvious what they’re doing is just evil.” Another resident who lives nearby said: “It’s easy to not participate or do anything about it if it’s not affecting you, but you shouldn’t wait until it’s on your front porch.”
