Judge grants preliminary injunction against Bovino, federal agents over use of force: “Shocks the conscience”

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against federal immigration agents over their use of force during Operation Midway Blitz, telling lawyers for the Trump administration she found their evidence “simply not credible.””It is difficult to conceive how an injunction requiring the government to comply with the Constitution could possibly be harmful,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said as she explained her decision. She said she is granting “complete relief to plaintiffs” and rejected the government’s request for a stay pending appeal, saying they have not made a strong showing that they’re likely to succeed on the merits of their claim.A group of protesters and journalists sued the Trump administration over immigration agents’ aggressive tactics in Chicago. Ellis had already issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting agents from using tear gas and other riot control weapons against people who do not pose an immediate threat. Agents are also required to issue two warnings before deploying tear gas or using other riot control weapons.Last week, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino testified in court for several hours about his and his agents’ use of force in immigration enforcement and in responding to protesters and civilians. He also sat for two depositions between that hearing and Thursday’s. Ellis said she sees no need for the tactics agents are currently using, saying, “I would find the use of force shocks the conscience.”Ellis said she’s found “this conduct [by federal agents] shows no sign of stopping” and didn’t stop after she initially issued and expanded her temporary restraining order. She said neighbors have also indicated they intend to continue protesting immigration enforcement operations. The injunction bars federal agents from using force against journalists. Agents may ask journalists to change their location as long as they give them a reasonable time to comply, and their new location still allows them to observe government operations. Federal agents cannot disperse crowds unless justified by exigent circumstances as defined by DHS’s use-of-force policy. They are also barred from using riot control weapons unless needed to stop harm to another person.The use of tear gas, pepper spray or other less-lethal weapons is banned “unless such force is necessary to stop the immediate threat of physical harm to another.” This includes standing or kneeling on a person’s body. Ellis further ordered that two separate warnings must be issued before any of those tactics are deployed and that they must be issued at a volume at which people can reasonably hear them. Federal agents are banned from arresting people who disobey a lawful dispersal order unless those persons have committed a crime. She said that officials’ fear of injury cannot justify the suppression of free speech, and that while law enforcement is allowed to disperse a crowd when a threat to peace and or order appears, she does not find “the defendant’s version of events credible.”The injunction also more strictly enforces identification requirements for agents, ordering that all agents who are not undercover or not uniformed have two separate places on their uniform that publicly identify them and their agency. All federal agents in uniform must also wear and activate their body-worn cameras. The only time a body-worn camera is not needed is during undercover activity and while conducting surveillance when enforcement is not planned, on flights or in DHS-owned facilities.Ellis ordered the government to widely disseminate the injunction to all law enforcement personnel who are part of Operation Midway Blitz, and all supervisors up to and including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, by 10 p.m. Thursday electronically and/or on paper. She also ordered the plaintiffs to make a good-faith attempt to wait at least 24 hours before filing a request for relief. Ellis began her hearing by reading the poem “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, which includes the famous description, “City of the Big Shoulders,” saying it reflects the city and metropolitan area that she knows and sees. She said while the government would have people believe the Chicagoland area is “ransacked by rioters,” “that simply isn’t true.”She said videos and photographs submitted by both plaintiffs and defendants showed the government acting in contradiction to limits set by the initial temporary restraining orders, deploying tear gas, flash-bangs and pepper balls with “no warning whatsoever.”She also noted Bovino himself has deployed tear gas without warning and lied about the circumstances that led to his actions. She said in Brighton Park on Oct. 4, video shows that “Defendant Bovino obviously attacks and tackles” a person to the ground, despite saying he never used force against that person.”More telling,” she said, “Defendant Bovino admitted that he lied. He admitted that he lied that a rock hit him before he deployed tear gas in Little Village.”Ellis acknowledged that, since coming under unified command, violence has decreased, but said that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t have the “likelihood to exist.” She also noted that federal agents have had objects thrown at them and faced protesters and opposition that hasn’t been peaceful. Addressing the incident in Brighton Park, she said that some people did throw water bottles at agents, but “this still did not warrant pepper balls without warning.”She criticized the government for how they have characterized civilian opposition to immigration enforcement, saying, “Describing rapid response networks and neighborhood moms as professional agitators [shows] just how out of touch agents are.””A Constitution of government once changed from freedom can never be restored,” Ellis said, quoting John Adams, before reading the specifics of her injunction, “Liberty once lost will be lost forever.”Please note: The above video is from a previous, related report

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