CHICAGO (NewsNation) — A person believed to be associated with shots allegedly being fired at U.S. Border Patrol agents in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood over the weekend has been arrested, the Department of Homeland Security announced.
The agency did not indicate that the person in custody is a man whom the Department of Homeland Security alleges fired multiple shots from a black Jeep at agents during an enforcement operation in Little Village on Saturday. No agents were injured in the incident.
DHS announced Monday that the person in federal custody is a Mexican national who was previously convicted on weapons charges and who officials said entered the United States illegally. The man is also being held as a violator of the Laken Riley Act pending criminal charges of assaulting federal agents, a DHS spokesperson said on Monday.
The agency said that the man was inside the jeep, from which officials said that the shots directed at federal agents were fired. Authorities are working to confirm that the man who was arrested is the alleged shooter.
Officials said on Sunday that the driver of the black Jeep left the area after the shots were allegedly fired. A DHS spokesperson said that local residents reportedly threw bricks and a paint can at Border Patrol vehicles during Saturday’s incident.
Little Village has remained the site of multiple clashes between federal agents and residents. The heavily Hispanic-populated neighborhood began a whistle-blowing campaign shortly after “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began in early October. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino was also captured on video throwing a canister of tear gas at protesters in Little Village, which led to Bovino being required to appear in person before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis over his use of non-lethal munitions.
Ellis issued a preliminary injunction last week, which extends the restrictions on federal agents in their use of force against journalists, protesters and clergy. The order, which attorneys representing the Trump administration said it is appealing, prevents agents from using tear gas and pepper balls against protesters who do not pose an immediate threat to agents.
The order also requires federal officers and agents to use body-worn cameras. In her order, Ellis said that she believes federal agents were continuing to violate a temporary restraining order issued in early October. The judge said last week she was granting the injunction because of continued acts of force that she said “shock the conscience.”
“Each and every time, (federal agents) left destruction in their wake,” Illinois Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Democrat, recently said. “They left traumatized people in their wake.”
Amid the anger being directed at federal agents who Little Village officials insist are targeting the neighborhood, DHS officials said federal agents are being targeted by members of the Latin Kings street gang. The gang, which has between 20,000 and 35,000 members in 34 states, has reportedly issued a “shoot on sight” order that is being directed at federal agents working immigration enforcement operations like the one in Chicago.
In response to the directive given to Latin Kings members, Bovino told NewsNation that the gang “has messed with the wrong group possible”, adding, “(agents) will degrade, dismantle and destroy” the Latin Kings.