A facility in Broadview, a mostly Black suburb, has become the site of escalation and ‘targeted attacks’ on protesters
In recent weeks the Broadview facility has become the site of escalations by federal agents against protesters and journalists. Videos of agents deploying tear gas, pepper balls and roughly throwing protesters to the ground have gone viral, amidst the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Trump administration targeted Chicago with federal law enforcement starting in August, falsely claiming there had been a rise in crime in the city in recent years.
Since then, there have been increasingly aggressive reports of ICE enforcement in communities, including helicopters hovering over apartment raids. There have also been arrests of local officials and candidates for office who were protesting, including Illinois’ ninth congressional district Kat Abughazaleh, who went viral with a video of an ICE agent slamming her to the ground, Daniel Biss, the Evanston mayor, and a city alderman who were aggressively arrested while trying to advocate in a hospital setting.
I live in the Chicago area (close to the city, but not the city itself) and ever since August 16 or so (when the Air and Water Show was), I’ve heard helicopters hovering or flying over multiple times daily. I’ve lived in my house for almost 10 years and never heard a helicopter during that time until now.
It’s an intimidation tactic. It’s mood audio, ya know, to increase everyone’s anxiety.
Yeah, I figure it’s part of intimidation and scouting. It just makes me want to resist even more and it’s training me to hate the military. I have a military family covering every branch of service and I just want to disown them all for not speaking up or doing anything to counter narratives.
Has crime disappeared yet?
I’m still committing it by being liberal minded and having diverse neighbors (Asian, Pacific Islander, Indian, Iraqi, Black, Polish, Latino/a) on my street.
People are still shoplifting on occasion and speeding or blowing red lights (and the stop sign at the end of my street).
So, no.