A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot an armed woman in Chicago on Saturday as federal immigration agents faced off against scores of protesters, marking a violent escalation that precedes the Trump administration’s plan to federalize members of the Illinois National Guard.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the shooting, which occurred during heated exchanges with demonstrators on the city’s southwest side. The incident took place not far from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview that has been the site of near-nightly unrest.
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According to a DHS spokesperson, the woman was part of a group that “rammed cars into vehicles used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” No law enforcement officers were seriously injured in the incident.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that the woman, a U.S. citizen, was armed with a semi-automatic gun. The woman was recently named in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin after reportedly doxxing agents and issuing violent threats online. Agents were forced to deploy their weapons, firing defensive shots. The woman drove herself to a hospital following the shooting; her condition is currently unknown.
In addition to the shooting, ICE agents deployed pepper spray and loaded rubber bullets against the crowds. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced she was sending additional “special operations” to control the scene in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood. McLaughlin further noted that the Chicago Police Department had “withdrawn from the scene and is refusing to assist agents.”
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The escalating violence forms the backdrop for the Trump administration’s decision to federalize approximately 300 members of the Illinois National Guard.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, confirmed Saturday that he received an “ultimatum” from President Donald Trump to deploy the state’s National Guard troops, or the federal government would do so. Governor Pritzker strongly opposed the move, calling it “absolutely outrageous and un-American” and a “manufactured performance.” He stated that the action was “about control” rather than safety.
The federalization follows similar deployments in other parts of the country and has been met with legal challenges from state officials elsewhere.
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