Chaos erupted on a busy street in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood on Friday when a federal agent, reportedly from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), launched a tear gas canister from an SUV outside the Rico Fresh grocery store and in proximity to Funston Elementary School, as bystanders and children were thrown into a turmoil of coughing and scrambling for safety. Cell phone and surveillance footage captured the scene, showing people hastily trying to evacuate the area, their routines violently disrupted by the sudden appearance of tear gas clouds.
According to a NBC Chicago report, the incident drew immediate backlash from community members, while witnesses described the dramatic confrontation, one stating, “For no reason, tear gassed the whole crowd. There was a gentleman blocking their vehicle with a scooter. He wasn’t moving. The ICE agent rolled down the window and threw the tear gas” when describing the tension-fraught situation: the SUV, blocked by a person on a scooter, led to the abrupt deployment of the tear gas. In response to the event, nearby Funston Elementary School moved students indoors and adjusted its recess protocols, as confirmed by CPS and by the school’s principal, Sarah Trevino-Terronez.
The repercussions of the agents’ actions were met with strong words from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who voiced his disapproval of ICE’s approach, stating on social media that, “ICE’s abusive tactics have no place in our city, and our elected officials will continue to stand with residents against this attempt to stoke fear and intimidation,” as reported by CBS Chicago. Legal analyst Irv Miller suggested to CBS Chicago that the agent’s actions could potentially be criminal unless they were an act of self-defense, positing, “The problem is, we don’t know what was happening to him at the moment he did that. Was he in fear of his own safety at the time and had to do it, or was he just seeing this motorcycle in front of him that wouldn’t move, and he just decided to throw it for no apparent reason?” adding, “One, it’s a violation of law if he didn’t have a legitimate reason – being in fear of his own safety – but the other is you can’t do it for no reason. You’re committing an assault.”…