CHICAGO (WLS) — A federal operation on Chicago’s East Side led to a crash, followed by a pursuit, before the situation eventually spilled over into a nearby Walgreens.
That is where 19-year-old South Side native Warren King says he was shopping with friends and family before he was tackled and arrested.
The takedown by immigration officers was recorded outside a Walgreens store as loved ones pled for his release.
King’s relative can be heard saying in the video, “He’s a citizen! He’s a citizen!”
ABC7 blurred his face during the arrest since he faces no charges.
“You don’t know what’s going on, so get the *** back!” an agent can be heard saying in the video.
It happened after federal agents were seen swarming the store, appearing to be in search of someone.
“And, when he called for backup, other people come in, and that’s when I start to leave,” King said.
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But King says he did not get far from the exit before being tackled to the ground by a federal agent and placed under arrest. He is now left with both physical and mental scars.
“He was just saying, ‘Why are you running?’” King said. “But I’m telling him, ‘I’m a U.S. citizen. I’m here. I’m legal. I’m born here.’ So, they didn’t try to hear none of that, though.”
It all apparently stemmed from a collision, captured on video, at the nearby intersection of 105th and Avenue N.
Video shows Border Patrol agents in a white truck crashing into a red SUV on Tuesday morning.
It happened following a chase that circled the neighborhood for nearly 30 minutes after, the Department of Homeland Security said, the driver, an alleged undocumented immigrant, rammed into their agents’ vehicle.
Border Patrol followed the vehicle for about 30 minutes, and stopped it using a precision immobilization technique, or PIT, maneuver.
Two people, both living in the U.S. without legal permission, tried to run away, DHS said. They were taken into custody.
“Once the vehicle was stopped, the suspects, who are both illegal aliens attempted to flee on foot. As Border Patrol arrested the subjects and attempted to secure the scene a crowd began to form,” DHS said.
King told ABC7 he sat with them both in a car for hours before he was released.
“They just accepted, like, their defeat. It wasn’t no talking in the back between both of them, and they knew each other,” King said. “I just graduated high school. So, they can come for, literally, anybody. And that’s not right.”
A white Expedition and the red SUV were damaged in the crash.
Chopper 7 was over the crash scene at about 12:10 p.m., where a number of unmarked federal vehicles were in the middle of an intersection.
“I went outside, and I just see all the ICE guys on the floor with the guy. Then everybody just started coming out,” local shopkeeper Hector Baldazua said. “First I heard a lot of cars doing circles. I was like, what’s happening?”
Uber driver Eliseo Uribe was driving home.
“The white SUV nearly hit me. I thought they were fighting. But I never imagined they were ICE,” Uribe said in Spanish.
Mostly peaceful bystanders surrounded the dozens of agents in a tense standoff. Some were holding flags and others were holding phones, recording.
They chanted “ICE go home.”
Video shows one teenager being detained. Their attorney says they are a U.S. citizen, and have since been released.
ABC7 Chicago crews on the ground saw some tear gas deployed, after something, possibly eggs, was thrown at agents.
Chicago police said they had responded to the crash just after 11:05 a.m.
CPD had tried to get between federal agents and the residents gathered to deescalate, police said, but then rocks were thrown at the federal agents.
A large amount of tear gas was deployed about 12:40 p.m.
Federal agents used tear gas against a crowd on Chicago’s East Side Tuesday.
Those gathered quickly dispersed.
Federal agents had masks, but CPD did not. Some officers appeared to be affected by the gas.
During the protest, Chicago police said, 13 of their officers were exposed to tear gas while federal agents arrested multiple people, including a 16-year-old boy.
“They just told me, ‘Juanita, you have an emergency. ICE took your son. They beat him up. They body-slammed him. And they took your son,’” Juanita Garnica said. “They haven’t told me anything. He’s not an immigrant. He was born and raised in Chicago.”
Deputy Mayor Beatriz Ponce de Leon arrived in the aftermath.
“There is absolutely no reason to have this kind of chaos happening in our communities, putting people at risk, putting people in harm’s way and exacerbating the fear that people feel right now,” said Ponce de Leon, deputy mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights.
Homeland Security described what happened as part of a growing trend. They did not say how many people were arrested in total or where they were taken.
“My main concern was getting the vehicles removed from the situation. I thought that would kind of clear up the tensions. I have to worry about how this will spill over in the next few days, next few weeks,” 10th Ward Ald. Peter Chico said.
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