Ankara: A US federal judge has issued a temporary order prohibiting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents from using riot control weapons against journalists covering protests and immigration enforcement activities in the Chicago area.
According to Anadolu Agency, the order comes after incidents where federal agents reportedly targeted journalists with tear gas and less-lethal weapons, including pepper balls, while they were covering protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois. This facility is located in a suburb west of Chicago, and these actions have raised significant concerns about the targeting of journalists.
US District Judge Sara Ellis, appointed by President Obama, directed DHS agents, including those from ICE and US Customs and Border Protection, to refrain from dispersing, arresting, or using physical force against individuals they know or should reasonably know are journalists, unless there is specific probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. This 14-day order applies to all DHS agents operating in northern Illinois.
The order followed a lawsuit filed by the Chicago Headline Club, unions, and individual journalists, which cited multiple incidents of journalists being targeted. These included a Chicago Reader editor being hit by a rubber bullet and tear-gassed, four Block Club Chicago reporters facing pepper balls or tear gas at the Broadview ICE facility, and a CBS reporter whose vehicle was hit by a pepper ball, resulting in burning fumes inside.
Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-CWA, whose local chapters are among the plaintiffs, expressed gratitude for the court's intervention. He emphasized the importance of protecting journalists and other nonviolent individuals from riot control measures, highlighting that 'journalism is not a crime' and condemning what he described as an assault on First Amendment rights.
The order coincided with another judicial decision in Chicago blocking President Donald Trump from deploying federalized National Guard troops to Illinois, an action described by Governor Pritzker as an 'invasion.' In response to the order, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of DHS reiterated the protection afforded to speech and peaceful assembly by the First Amendment but cautioned about the risks associated with covering unlawful activities.
The order requires federal agents to display visible identification and prohibits the arrest of nonviolent protesters without probable cause. The court is set to hear further arguments later this month to determine whether the temporary order should be extended into a preliminary injunction.