Feds use 'violent force' on protesters, press, clergy at Broadview ICE facility: ACLU suit

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement among others, accusing them of "wanton" and "escalating" violence against protesters and journalists in a violation of their First Amendment rights during protests outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.

The ACLU filed the suit jointly with a coalition of news outlets, media associations and protesters, including the Illinois Press Association, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Headline Club. In it, they say federal agents used "indiscriminate” force and interfered with First Amendment rights, including freedoms of speech and the press.

“Never in modern times has the federal government undermined bedrock constitutional protections on this scale, or usurped states’ police power by directing federal agents to carry out an illegal mission against the people for the government’s own benefit,” the scathing suit read.

During an emergency hearing for a temporary restraining order Monday, attorneys for the federal government reportedly argued that ICE officers were hiding their identities with face masks because they were being doxxed, which became a danger to their safety. White House Deputy ICE Director Madison Sheahan also told NewsNation this last week, saying, "We're not a militarized force."

"We have people doxxing our officers, our threats are at an all-time high, and this happens because of the heightened rhetoric out of people like Gov. Pritzker, who don't understand that we're removing people like Tren de Aragua members from our streets and keeping his own citizens safe," she said.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis will reportedly announce a decision in the suit Thursday.

Pastor who was pepper-sprayed among plaintiffs in suit

Rev. David Black of the Presbyterian Church of Chicago said he was peacefully protesting federal agents’ presence at Broadview last month when he was shot seven times in “rapid fire” with “exploding pellets that contained some kind of chemical agent.”

“I extended my arms, palms outstretched toward the ICE officers, in a traditional Christian posture of prayer and blessing,” Pastor Black recalls.

“Without any warning, and without any order or request that I and others disperse, I was suddenly fired upon by ICE officers,” he told the ACLU of Illinois.

Black has continued to pressure the Trump administration for answers regarding his violent treatment.

“This is how the Trump administration treats the public witness of Christian faith. This and worse has been happening every day in Broadview,” he wrote on social media.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.