Sanctuary politicians in and around Chicago are under fire after Broadview, Ill., officials declared a civil emergency related to ongoing immigration protests there and other violence continues across the city.
Village of Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson issued a civil emergency on Nov. 17, which remains in place, due to several recent threats targeting the mayor and the Village Hall.
Broadview, a suburb of Chicago, has been the site of increasingly violent clashes between federal immigration agents and anti-ICE protestors outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility there.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued its own statement regarding Broadview, blasting the politicians who have allowed the civil unrest and assaults on federal agents to escalate since ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz in early September.
“For well over a month, rioters have attacked the Broadview field office and Illinois streets,” said a senior DHS official. “They have created serious public safety and officer safety threats: assaulting law enforcement, attacking law enforcement with vehicles, throwing tear gas cans, slashing tires, getting arrested with firearms in their possession, blocking the entrance of the building, and trespassing on private property.”
Mayor Thompson issued the civil emergency after escalating threats. She received a death threat on Oct. 13, which followed a telephone bomb threat targeting the Village Hall on Sept. 4. The FBI was alerted of threat against Thompson.
On the weekend of Nov. 14-15, a large crowd of protestors gathered outside the ICE facility. On Nov. 15, a group of “out-of-town protestors, non-Broadview residents” tried to storm the Village Hall and threatened to “shut down” a board meeting scheduled for Nov. 17.
The Village posted a media release on its website, which hasn’t been updated declaring the emergency declaration over.
“Since ICE’s Midway Blitz and the subsequent, intensifying protests began, the serious and credible bomb and death threats and the threat to disrupt village government has left me with no alternative but to declare a civil emergency in Broadview,” Thompson said.
“The order is designed to preserve the continuity of governance in light of the imminent threats against the lives of Village officials and public property,” Thompson added.
Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, who moved from Los Angeles to Chicago and most recently to oversee the operation in Charlotte, N.C., appeared on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” last week to discuss the backlash against ICE and Border Patrol.
Watters aired video of people striking a piñata resembling Bovino and training sessions at a church in Charlotte on how to resist and record ICE and blow whistles.
Bovino discussed the extremism of the violent agitators and called it “cult-like” behavior.
“To understand that, that’s a tall order,” he told Watters. “I was talking with my team today and we’ve come to the conclusion that this is a cult-like, this is a cult. …These individuals oftentimes don’t even know why they are protesting ICE and Border Patrol in their communities. We could be out there with a child rapist and they would come out and protest that, so, that’s the very definition of a cult-like mentality.”
Watters asked if they felt safe in light of recent attacks and vehicle rammings, and Bovino responded, “The level of violence is certainly something that I have not seen before. …The level of violent we’re seeing is unprecedented.”
The violence in Chicago has not been isolated to the Broadview facility, but it really ramped up on Nov. 15 after protestors jumped security barriers and clashed with law enforcement. A total of 21 people were arrested and four officers were injured.
Two Broadview police officers, one Illinois State police officer, and a Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputy were injured trying to control the crowds. The two Broadview officers and the Cook County deputy were later taken to the hospital.
Broadview is a processing center, not a detention center. Detainees are briefly processed before being transferred to detention facilities, DHS said.
“All this garbage about ICE facilities is contributing to our officers facing an 8000% increase in death threats against them,” the DHS statement continued. “Some of the worst of the worst including pedophiles, gang members, and rapists have been processed through the facility in recent weeks.”
According to the Broadview release, the emergency order will remain in place until the mayor determines threats to village officials are no longer in place.
In another ABC7 News report from Nov. 18, police said they were expanding the designated protest area near the ICE facility in Broadview. Local business access will be rerouted.
Police said over 4,000 people have protested outside the ICE facility over the past month and a half.
“This designated area will allow protestors to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights without inhibiting traffic, while reducing the risk to individuals standing in the street from being struck by vehicles and reducing the risk to officers engaged in enforcement,” police said.
