Judge: Government’s Chicago Claims Are ‘Simply Untrue’ She limits federal agents’ use of force
Hundreds of community members, parents, and elected officials attend a rally in support of an educator who was detained by federal law enforcement officers at Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Chicago. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
A federal judge in Chicago ruled Thursday that federal agents must sharply limit their use of force against peaceful protesters and members of the press, saying current practices violate constitutional protections.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said she will issue an injunction requiring agents to use body cameras and restrict riot-control measures such as tear gas and projectiles, except when “objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat.” The order expands a previous ruling that mandated agents wear visible identification and barred certain crowd-control tactics against nonviolent demonstrators.
Judge Ellis has repeatedly criticized federal officials for failing to follow her earlier directives. “The government would have people believe that the Chicagoland area is in a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators,” she said, quoting from Carl Sandburg’s poem about Chicago to open the hearing. “That simply is untrue, and the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion,” she added, according to the New York Times.
The ruling, expected to be appealed by President Trump’s administration, comes amid a broader legal battle over how federal agents handled protests during the immigration enforcement surge that began in September.
During an eight-hour hearing Wednesday, witnesses described being tear-gassed, shot with pepper balls, and threatened with firearms while peacefully demonstrating or recording law enforcement actions. One youth organizer from Cicero, Leslie Cortez, told the court, “I get really nervous because it just feels like I’m not safe. And I question my safety when I go out.”
Judge Ellis pressed witnesses on whether those experiences discouraged them from continuing to protest or report. Many said they feared returning to demonstrations. “That would cause a reasonable person to think twice about exercising their fundamental rights,” Ellis remarked.
Testimony also focused on Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who has faced scrutiny over his actions during the protests. Ellis said she found Bovino’s account of one incident “not credible,” after video evidence contradicted his claim that he had been struck by a rock before deploying tear gas.
Footage of Bovino’s five-hour deposition was played in court, during which he defended agents’ actions but appeared evasive about specific tactics. When asked by civil rights attorney Locke Bowman whether he still stood by his earlier statement that the use of force at an ICE facility in Broadview was “exemplary,” Bovino first replied “No,” then added, “The uses of force have been more than exemplary,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by journalists and protesters who allege that federal agents have repeatedly used excessive force against peaceful demonstrators. Last week, an appeals court temporarily blocked Judge Ellis’ order requiring Bovino to provide her with daily operational briefings on federal activities in the Chicago area.
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