Governor J.B. Pritzker has publicly dismissed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account of a violent confrontation involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near a facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, calling the description “propaganda.”
The governor’s comments on CNN’s “State Of The Union” follow a dramatic social media post by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who alleged a targeted ambush attack on the federal agents.
Allegations of Ambush and Stand-Down Order
According to McLaughlin’s statement, ICE agents conducting “routine patrolling” were rammed by vehicles and “boxed in by 10 cars.” The agents were forced to exit their vehicles. McLaughlin further alleged that one of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
This escalating situation reportedly forced federal law enforcement to “deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots” at the armed individual, identified as a U.S. citizen who later drove herself to the hospital for wound care. READ: Armed Woman Shot By ICE In Chicago Amid Violent Protests, National Guard Called-Up
McLaughlin identified the armed woman as someone recently named in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bulletin for doxxing agents and issuing violent threats, including a reported online post stating, “Hey to all my gang let’s fk those mother f*ers up, don’t let them take anyone.”
Crucially, McLaughlin also made the disturbing revelation that local police officers were ordered to stand down as the federal agents were being surrounded by what she described as a “violent, left-wing mob.” No law enforcement officers were injured as a result of the attack.
Governor Pritzker Questions DHS Account
Appearing on CNN, Governor Pritzker was pressed on the incident and the allegation that Chicago police refused to assist the federal agents. Host Jake Tapper asked, “What do you know about this incident? Were federal agents boxed in and assaulted?” RELATED: Armed Woman Shot By ICE In Chicago Amid Violent Protests, National Guard Called Up
Pritzker immediately expressed skepticism, referring to the DHS account as hard to verify.
“Well, we don’t have a lot of facts,” Pritzker responded. He accused ICE of putting out a press release—what he called “propaganda”—before others could speak, making it difficult for the state to “determine what actually happened.”
The governor then pivoted to a separate, recent incident in Franklin Park where ICE agents shot and killed an individual, saying agents killed an “unarmed” person. He suggested the agents’ initial account that the officer was threatened was untrue, despite publicly available footage reportedly showing the individual dragging an agent with his car during a traffic stop. RELATED: Illegal Immigrant Dead After Dragging ICE Agent With His Car In Chicago Suburb
“So here, it’s really hard to know exactly what the facts are, and they won’t let us access the facts. They are just putting out their propaganda, and then we’ve got to later determine what actually happened,” Pritzker concluded, effectively denying the immediate reality of the DHS allegations while expressing concern about federal transparency and previous conduct.
The severe discrepancy between the detailed DHS allegations of a coordinated, near-fatal ambush and the Governor’s sweeping dismissal of the events as unsubstantiated “propaganda” marks a significant escalation in the tensions between the state and federal immigration enforcement agencies.
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