Protesters demonstrate at Broadview ICE facility in spite of more pepper balls, rubber rounds

Demonstrators were hit by pepper balls and rubber bullets Monday during protests at ICE's Broadview facility.

Daniel Schouse, a 36-year-old Palatine resident, was covered in white pepper ball powder by the afternoon, only to be hosed off by others with wipes and water bottles.

For the last several days, federal immigration agents have regularly used pepper balls and other chemicals as well as rubber bullets during demonstrations. The agents are firing the rounds as an attempt to clear protesters from ICE's facility driveway so vehicles can carry agents and detainees.

Schouse took several hits as protesters stood on the sidewalk blocking cars from entering the facility temporarily, but always being fended back by agents shoving them out of the way or the pepper ball rounds.

But he and others also were shot while dancing and blowing bubbles in front of the facility. They later shouted to agents on the roof not to shoot a woman who arrived to drop off a relative’s legal documents.

“There’s 20 people out here and they’re shooting,” he told the Sun-Times before he was interrupted by another volley of pepper ball shots raining down from agents on the building’s roof. “Even when you’re following the law, don’t be surprised if they shoot you.”

Thoughout the day, as many as five agents stood on the roof overlooking the small crowd of protesters as demonstrations stretched into the evening.

Rounds of pepper balls sent pepper wafting into the air, causing people on the ground to cough and sneeze. Some demonstrators complained of their eyes stinging and others rushed to rinse their faces, bodies and clothing with milk or water.

Protesters sometimes taunted agents on the roof or behind the fence to the facility’s parking lot. One man yelled: “Why do you guys like to shoot unarmed civilians?”

An agent on the roof shrugged.

Meanwhile, Schouse had been hit with both pepper balls and rubber rounds in his head, arm, ankle and back by that afternoon. The only thing getting him to leave was when public transit stopped running to the area.

Schouse said while it’s a very different vibe to protests he’s been to downtown, he encouraged others to come out “if they get an emotional response” to videos of protesters being shot at, even if they don’t want to be on the front line with him. He was thrust into action by Friday’s videos of tear gas clouds and Congressional candidates being tossed to the ground.

Experiencing it himself only solidified his desire to be at the Broadview facility denouncing the hundreds of arrests federal immigration officials have claimed to have made.

“The fact that they’re shooting me is getting me more worked up and makes me want to be here more,” Schouse said. “Every day off I’ll make sure I’m out here. … It’s like igniting a fire.”

Morsa Narvaez, a 25-year-old hair dresser who lives nearby, arrived for the first time Friday to ask if the protesters there needed supplies. She’s been there every day since, now taking charge when people stop by to ask the same question she did four days ago.

She said the group, which isn’t under any organization, has been learning what works best as the days go on. Containers for their supplies were bought after large amounts of tear gas and mace were used Friday, and a change of clothes is kept for those riddled with chemical munitions.

“There’s no organization,” Narvaez said. “As we’re going, we’re realizing what we need. … We’re just a community of people who see something that’s wrong and are trying to do what we can. We’re not professionals — I cut hair. We’re just figuring it out.”

Narvaez is hopeful more locals will turn out, as Monday’s group capped out around 20 people by 4:30 p.m.

It came as nearly 50 elected officials at the Congressional, state and local levels signed onto a letter denouncing violence against protesters they also say had come “without provocation.”

Reps. Delia Ramirez and Jesus Chuy Garcia as well as 14 states senators, 11 state representatives, five Cook County commissioners, and 11 alderpeople were among the signatories.

“The reckless actions of federal agents are the latest in an intentional effort by the Trump Administration to silence dissent and normalize xenophobia, authoritarianism and fascism,” the letter states. “It is part of the same system of violence that criminalizes immigrants and tears families apart.”

Ald. Byron Sigh-Lopez was at the facility Monday morning and also denounced violence against protesters. He called on state officials like Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul to do whatever they could to limit immigration operations at the Broadview facility and protect protesters.

“We must protect our constituents as we did those legislators from Texas,” Sigcho-Lopez said.