CHICAGO (WLS) — In many ways, Tuesday’s hearing did not live up to its billing.
Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, did not, as the Department of Homeland Security had anticipated, “correct Judge Ellis of her deep misconceptions” regarding its Chicago-area immigration operation “Midway Blitz.” In fact, for all the bravado he showed upon leaving the courthouse Tuesday, inside, he showed little resistance as he acquiesced to all of Judge Sara Ellis’ orders.
Surrounded by a large number of federal officers, Bovino left Chicago’s federal courthouse amidst a loud chorus of jeers and taunts directed at him by the assembled protesters. Bovino defiantly pumped his fist into the air and then saluted before driving off moments later.
But inside the courtroom, away from the cameras, it was a different story, as Bovino told Ellis, “We are on the same page. We will abide by the TRO.”
Bovino was ordered to appear in front of Ellis on Tuesday after images surfaced, showing him launching what appears to be a tear gas canister into a crowd of protesters in Little Village last week, without having previously given those assembled the two required warnings. It was an apparent violation of her temporary restraining order.
“A warning does not consist of saying, ‘get back’ or ‘leave.’ They must tell people what they are going to do before they do it so that people have the opportunity to comply. That isn’t what I have seen in any of these videos,” Ellis said.
On Tuesday, DHS released body-worn camera footage of that incident. It shows, among other things, a man with a knife appearing to slash an official vehicle, and an object, which officials say is a rock, thrown toward Bovino and other agents. What the video fails to do is to show any audible warnings of what agents were about to do. It also appears to show a crowd that, while verbally abusive, was, for the most part, not physically engaging the agents.
But it was Saturday’s incident in Old Irving Park, where, in the aftermath of an immigration-related arrest, tear gas was deployed on a residential street, that appeared to outrage Ellis the most.
