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  • Venezuelan communities hold meetings in Chicago area after US captures President Maduro

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    CHICAGO (WLS) — Community meetings were planned across the Chicago area on Sunday after the U.S. military’s strikes in Venezuela and capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.

    Protesters gathered in downtown Chicago on Saturday just hours after President Donald Trump announced details of the attack. Many say they are against his decision to carry it out.

    ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

    Federal Plaza in the Loop was packed with demonstrators pushing back against the Trump administration on Saturday. They say his actions were an unnecessary act of war.

    Conversely, many Venezuelan nationals are happy to see the regime removed, but there are questions over how the operation was carried out without Congress being made aware.

    SEE ALSO | Trump’s plan to seize and revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry faces major hurdles

    Some demonstrators want the Trump administration to be focused on issues unfolding in the United States. Others ABC7 spoke with say this attack on Venezuela reminds them of previous U.S. involvement in international conflict.

    Trump says the U.S. is going to run Venezuela in the interim until a transition can happen.

    Maduro is currently being held in a Brooklyn, New York, detention center and faces drug and weapons charges. Venezuela’s vice president, meanwhile, addressed the country on state television after the attack, calling for Maduro’s release.

    Sunday afternoon’s community meetings are expected to take place in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood and in north suburban Schaumburg.

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    Christian Piekos

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  • Officers appear to use pepper balls against protesters at Broadview ICE facility: LIVE

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    BROADVIEW, Ill. (WLS) — Reps. Chuy Garcia and Delia Ramirez are expected to speak outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility about recent operations in the area later Saturday morning.

    Protesters gathered outside that ICE detention center on Friday, with video showing what appears to be pepper balls being used against some of the demonstrators that evening. Video also shows at least one demonstrator being dragged away.

    ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

    Demonstrations were also seen in other northwest suburbs on Friday night after an ICE agent allegedly shot a man to death in Franklin Park earlier in the day.

    Reps. Chuy Garcia and Delia Ramirez are expected to speak Saturday outside the Broadview ICE facility, where an anti-ICE protest got underway Friday.

    Federal agents say they were trying to make a traffic stop when Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a man the Department of Homeland Security says was undocumented with a criminal history of reckless driving, allegedly drove at the officer, dragging him in the process.

    SEE ALSO | Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Live updates

    That’s when, officials say, the officer fired shots, striking Villegas-Gonzalez, who later died at the hospital.

    Cellphone video obtained by ABC7 shows the moment ICE officers removed the man from his crashed car near Grand and Elder Lane. ABC7 froze the video since it is too graphic to show.

    DHS said in a statement, in part, “We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer. He followed his training, used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law to protect the public and law enforcement.”

    READ MORE | U.S. reps. denied access to Broadview immigration facility; Speaker Johnson tours Chicago ICE office

    Villegas-Gonzalez’ girlfriend and stepdaughter, who asked ABC7 not to show their faces, say he was a working 38-year-old father of three from Mexico who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years.

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called Friday’s events in Franklin Park troubling.

    Meanwhile, a group of local Catholics will gather for what organizers are calling a people’s Mass outside Naval Station Great Lakes, which is hosting federal immigration agents as they carry out operations in the Chicago area.

    The Mass, set to begin at 10 a.m., will serve as a peaceful and spiritual protest against the Trump administration’s mobilization of ICE to Chicago.

    RELATED | Broadview protesters demand release of Chicago mother detained by ICE during routine check-in

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    Christian Piekos

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  • Downtown Chicago demonstrators call on US to continue to support Ukraine in fight against Russia

    Downtown Chicago demonstrators call on US to continue to support Ukraine in fight against Russia

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    CHICAGO (WLS) — A group rallied in downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon in support of Ukraine to mark two years since Russia’s invasion of the country.

    “The war in Ukraine is still going on and its bloody and its horrible, so America can help Ukraine,” said Anastasia Voronovsky with Russian Americans for Democracy in Russia.

    The rally, consisting of a coalition of Russian activists and people with ties to Ukraine, started at the Wrigley building on Michigan Avenue.

    Dozens of demonstrators in the group then walked to the Consulate General of Ukraine.

    Those at the rally said it’s important to support Ukraine and stop Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “Putin is representative of all the Russian population. He represents just a small part. Unfortunately, right now he’s in power, but we need to defeat him,” said Elena Kaspirovich with Voice of Russia Chicago.

    They called on the U.S. to continue to provide aid to the country as lawmakers struggle to pass a $60 billion military aid bill that’s blocked in the House of Representatives.

    “Russia is a security threat to the world and if you don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, he’ll start another war in Eastern Europe and he will split NATO,” said demonstrator Roman Lifalov.

    RELATED | Ukraine war update: St. Nicholas Cathedral School marks 2 years since Russia invaded

    Right now, Putin’s army is making some gains as Ukraine’s military struggles with diminishing weapons stockpiles.

    This comes as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy welcomed world leaders to Kyiv Saturday morning, including the prime ministers from Belgium and Canada, and the European Commission president.

    People rallied across Europe also rallied Saturday in support of Ukraine, including in London, Berlin, and Stockholm.

    Supporters at Chicago’s rally said they hope Europe will step up even more to help Ukraine hold on until more aid from the U.S. arrives.

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    Evelyn Holmes

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