Judge Admonishes Border Patrol Leader for Tactics in Chicago
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For more than an hour, the judge, Sara L. Ellis of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, read Mr. Bovino restrictions she had previously set as part of a lawsuit over tactics that agents are using and cited examples of times his agents appeared to violate those restrictions.
They used tear gas in a neighborhood where children were about to march in a Halloween parade, Judge Ellis said. They failed to warn residents before tossing tear gas canisters at them, she said, noting an incident in which an agent threw a canister out of a car as it drove away.
The judge then ordered Mr. Bovino, who took the stand in his usual green fatigues and Border Patrol insignia, to appear at the federal courthouse at the end of every weekday to personally provide her with a report on the day’s arrests and incidents.
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The issue first came before Judge Ellis when a coalition of media organizations, protesters and clergy members filed a lawsuit
accusing federal agents of “a pattern of extreme brutality” intended to “silence the press and civilians.” Outside a federal detention facility in Broadview, Ill., federal agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at protesters who gathered regularly to hold demonstrations.
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Even after the order, which was issued on Oct. 9, the Border Patrol continued to use tear gas, including in residential neighborhoods late last week and over the weekend. In several cases, residents said, no warnings were given.
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She also questioned him about his own use of tear gas, after he was recorded on video lobbing a canister of gas last week into a group of angry residents of Little Village, on the city’s Southwest Side.
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