The top Customs and Border Protection official tasked with overseeing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago has admitted to lying about an incident in which officers deployed tear gas against protesters, according to a federal judge.
United States District Judge Sara Ellis revealed Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino’s admission on Thursday as she handed down a ruling restricting the federal agency’s use of force in the city.
“Mr. Bovino and the Department of Homeland Security claimed that he had been hit by a rock on the head before throwing the tear gas, but video evidence disproves this,” Ellis said in court. “And he ultimately admitted he was not hit until after he threw the tear gas.”
In defense of Bovino’s actions in the referenced Oct. 23 incident, the Department of Homeland Security said violent protesters attacked a government vehicle transporting illegal immigrants and noted federal officers acted in self-defense. The Department added that the officers gave multiple warnings before deploying tear gas as required by one of Ellis’s recent court orders restricting certain riot control tactics.
The judge previously mandated officers use body cameras to capture their treatment of protesters and illegal immigrants during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Democrats and journalists have criticized the immigration enforcement operation since its start in early September.
The federal government must provide proof by the end of Friday that Bovino and other federal immigration officials are complying with the order requiring body cameras.
Ellis also recently ordered Bovino to brief her in court daily regarding updates on the immigration operation; however, an appeals court has temporarily paused that order. The daily court appearances were only set to last until a preliminary injunction hearing on Nov. 5.
In response to Ellis’s Thursday order, the DHS said it would file an appeal.
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“This injunction is an extreme act by an activist judge that risks the lives and livelihoods of law enforcement officers,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement reported by multiple news outlets.
“Rioters, gangbangers, and terrorists have opened fire on our federal law enforcement officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, rammed them, ambushed them, and they have destroyed multiple law enforcement vehicles,” the spokesperson added. “Despite these real dangers, our law enforcement shows incredible restraint in exhausting all options before force is escalated.”
