Copyright NBC 5 Chicago
Two U.S. citizens in Aurora say they were attacked by federal agents and detained outside of an elementary school this weekend. Ruben Morales and Jessi Olazaba track, record and document federal agent and ICE activity in the Aurora area. On Saturday they said neighbors alerted them to unmarked agent cars at the Allen Elementary School in Aurora. “I was walking up to the vehicle to see why they were parked in a teacher parking spot," Morales told NBC Chicago. He said an agent in the back seat told him to back away. "I turn around to walk away and that’s when I hear footsteps coming in my direction and pepper spray hitting the back of my head," Morales said. "That’s when I felt body contact of them taking me down, hitting me.” He said once they put him in handcuffs they identified themselves as federal agents. He shared images with NBC Chicago that show his ripped pants, bloody knees and scratches to his throat and arm from the encounter. Morales is a U.S. citizen and said agents questioned his status. Meanwhile Olazaba, also a U.S. citizen, witnessed the interaction and tried to intervene by blowing a whistle and recording the agents. "They told me to get back, get back, I stepped back," she said. "Then they lifted him [Morales] into the vehicle, so I went behind to get photos of the plates and make model of the car... the agent gets out of the back passenger side, which is where he had Ruben, he came out and he started to come towards me, I saw he had pepper spray in his hands. He knocked off my glasses and sprayed me with pepper spray. I went down like this and he came and used his force and pushed me with both hands and that’s when I fell back and hit my head," Morales said he was taken to an FBI office where he was questioned and later released without charges. Olazaba was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Her children were in her vehicle and were left with police. "I was there just to record, that’s all I was doing because people need to know what's going on," she said. Olazaba was cited for impeding an arrest. Aurora Mayor John Laesch heard about the incident and went to the hospital, where there was a growing presence of protesters. "It’s important to see what’s going on and try to de-escalate where possible to prevent arrests, tear gas and destruction of property," Laesch told NBC Chicago. "It’s a very scary time for para military forces to be on the streets of the United States of America targeting Illinois residents," he said. "They're now making warrantless arrests, racial profiling, and arresting without probable cause. These are constitutional violations and they have to be documented in court." Mayor Laesch said the presence of federal agents is harming his community. "We’ve seen businesses losing significant revenue because people are not going to work, some businesses I met with about a week ago recorded losses of revenue about 35 percent," he said. "So this is having a big impact on the City of Aurora’s economy, it has an impact on our education system, it’s having an impact on the people who are stepping up to defend the community." NBC Chicago reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for a response to the arrests but did not immediately receive a response.
