A federal judge has ordered federal agencies to sharply limit their use of tear gas and other riot control tactics against protesters in Illinois, marking a major restriction on law enforcement as unrest continues across the state.
Judge Sara Ellis, an Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting agents from dispersing crowds in public areas unless there are “exigent circumstances.”
The order forbids the use of crowd control munitions — including tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and less-lethal shotguns — unless officers determine there is an immediate threat to someone’s physical safety. Ellis also ordered officers to issue at least two verbal warnings before deploying such tactics and to give protesters enough time to comply.
The judge went further, forbidding officers from shoving or tackling demonstrators to the ground unless they pose an immediate threat of physical harm or officers are making a lawful arrest.
The case was filed by journalists who said they were manhandled by federal officers during protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Chicago area.
Justice Department lawyers objected to the judge’s ruling, arguing that federal officers must have discretion to make split-second decisions in volatile situations.
The decision came the same week another judge appointed by President Joe Biden temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from sending the National Guard to Chicago to protect federal facilities from violent protesters.
U.S. District Judge April Perry issued an order halting Trump’s plan to deploy troops to secure Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings in Chicago, pending a second hearing scheduled for Friday, according to The Hill.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by Illinois and Chicago officials seeking to block Trump’s use of the National Guard to protect federal officers. The lawsuit came after weeks of escalating unrest outside ICE facilities, Breitbart News reported.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has faced criticism for encouraging protests and using incendiary language against Republicans and federal authorities.
In remarks to Democrat activists earlier this year, Pritzker said, “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.”
Pritzker has called Trump’s enforcement of federal immigration law an “unconstitutional invasion of Illinois by the federal government.”
“Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law,” Pritzker said Thursday on X. “Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.”
Trump adviser Stephen Miller blasted Pritzker’s interference with federal law enforcement, accusing the governor of encouraging violence by opposing ICE operations.
“Pritzker is saying that if ICE officers are performing their duties in Chicago it is an incitement to violence against them,” Miller wrote Thursday on X. “What is the correct term to describe this?”
Miller also criticized Judge Perry’s ruling, writing, “Federal judge: protecting ICE officers from violent attack will only further motivate the violent attackers.”
Meanwhile, Illinois State Police officers appeared outside the ICE facility in Broadview on Friday, where they arrested violent protesters who attempted to break through a police line protecting federal property.