CHICAGO (WGN) – A federal judge is concerned about federal agents violating her orders not to deploy tear gas and pepper spray at protesters.
The judge ordered a top ICE official to appear in court on Monday to discuss the matter, but as of Friday, the official is moving back to his old role.
In a statement to WGN-TV, a Homeland Security official said, “Russell Hott is the permanent Field Office Director (FOD) for the Washington, D.C. area of responsibility, not Chicago. He served in Chicago as interim FOD and this is a planned return to his permanent office in D.C.”
The statement went on to say, “Samuel Olson, permanent FOD of St. Paul and former FOD of Chicago, will now be acting as interim FOD of Chicago.”
WGN-TV sat down with Olson in June shortly before he was reassigned to an ICE Field Office in Minnesota, but court documents indicate Olson may not be the one replacing Hott in the courtroom.
It appears the Department of Justice wants Customs and Border Protection Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick to answer the judge’s questions instead.
The documents stated DHS determined Border Patrol was mostly involved in the incidents in question, not ICE.
It’s unclear whether the personnel changes will lead to any changes in court on Monday.
Ethan Illers
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