Federal agents fire chemicals as protesters try to block car at immigration site outside Chicago

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BROADVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Federal agents fired pepper balls and tear gas at protesters near an immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago on Friday.

The conflict over several hours is the latest pushback by federal authorities against protesters focused on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago, amid a surge of immigration enforcement that began early this month.

Agents repeatedly fired chemical agents toward a crowd of over 100 protesters after some of the group attempted to block a car from driving down a street toward the ICE building. The pepper bullets and tear gas canisters went into the entire crowd, most of them standing far back from the fence and not blocking any traffic.

Protesters fell to the ground and ran as agents repeatedly fired, dispersing most of the crowd. Some protesters pulled one another off the ground and poured water in each other's eyes when out of the parking lot by the facility.

In previous weeks, protesters had also tried to block agents' vehicles from moving in or out of a yard next to the building. A fence installed Tuesday pushed Friday's demonstrators farther away.

Activists and family members of detainees have raised concerns in recent days that the facility meant to process arrestees is a de facto detention center plagued by inhumane conditions. Advocates say up to 200 people are being held there at a time, with some held up to five days in a space that does not have showers or a cafeteria. Immigrants report they are being given little food, water and limited access to medication.

ICE officials on Friday accused protesters of blocking access to the gate and attempting to trespass on federal property. They said agents confiscated a gun from one of the protesters. The presence of a gun could not be immediately independently confirmed.

Tricia McLaughlin, ICE assistant secretary, called on state and local officials to “to condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE” in a statement to The Associated Press. She did not confirm any arrests of protesters Friday afternoon.

Earlier in the morning, a handful of protesters yelled and rang bells at a section of the fence closer to the building. Agents shot the first round of pepper bullets Friday morning toward protesters using ribbons to tie handwritten messages of support for detainees onto the fence, including “No human is illegal,” and “We stand with you! You are not illegal!”

Protesters and agents yelled expletives at one another when federal immigration agents pulled signs and flags off the fence surrounding the building.

Bushra Amiwala, a 27-year-old elected official on the Skokie Board of Education, said an agent on the roof of the facility shot her with pepper bullets while she tied notes on the wall, causing her to cough and have trouble breathing.

“They caught us so incredibly off guard,” she said as remnants of the white powder clung to her pants and hijab. “We literally were just tying notes on the wall.”

Amiwala called the use of chemical agents “fully unprovoked.”

Village officials have demanded the “illegally built” fence be removed over security concerns from the fire department. It remained in place Friday.