Dawn protests of the Broadview Ice detention center, May 3, 2019. Demonstrators were met with counter-protesters and tensions would eventually escalate as the demonstrators clashed with Illinois state police. Multiple arrests On the ground Protests began at 8 a.m. They began right around the time that Broadview’s Mayor, Katrina Thompson, imposed an emergency ordinance prohibiting protests between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. As tensions further heightened, no fewer than 11 people were arrested amid the violent scuffles.
Samba’s arrest had barely faded when a recent court order sparked the protests. It mandates that federal agents enforcing immigration law in Illinois wear body cameras. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker cheered the decision. He applauded the ruling because it comes at a time of escalating abuse by federal law enforcement against the people of his state.
Demonstrators of the protest marched in opposition to the mayor’s order. They blocked a major nearby street and would not disperse to the designated protest area. It got worse when some demonstrators tried to intervene. They banded together to protect their comrade as state police attempted to arrest one of their fellow protesters.
Mayor Thompson’s decision follows last week’s protests that turned violent and wreaked havoc on the village’s 8,000 citizens. Only two days prior, he had shrunk the area that designated protest space. On the ground, local officials struggle to contain the estimated thousands of people that crowd outside the detention center. This problem is most acute on Fridays and Sundays.
As the protest progressed, dozens of troopers equipped with helmets and batons quickly moved in to push the crowd back. Local activists countered by blowing whistles at ICE agents as they arrived and departed the facility. The mood in the room was electric, with activists sharing their anger at the city’s leadership for limiting their ability to protest.
Kat Abughazaleh, a notable leader of the group, expressed the confusion and anger that many felt over the restrictions placed on their protests.
“A free speech zone implies that everywhere else is not a free speech zone,” – Kat Abughazaleh
The protests follow heightened criticism of federal law enforcement’s patrols in Chicago. The bombshell action by the Trump administration last August had first attacked the city, incorrectly accusing it of experiencing an increase in crime. It’s this misinformation that has markedly increased hostilities from local communities toward federal law enforcement.