Police in north suburban Evanston are investigating an incident involving a resident who is a U.S. citizen and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers Sunday morning.
The incident happened near Howard Street and Dodge Avenue around 9:49 a.m. Police were dispatched after an unknown caller reported hearing two men arguing and someone stating that an individual would be taken into custody.
When Evanston police arrived, they found an adult male on the ground with several people assisting him. A video posted to Facebook shows the man on the ground with two officers trying to take him into custody despite his pleas that he’s a U.S. citizen.
The man can be heard shouting at the officers as a passerby records the incident.
The more than three-minute video shows two officers letting go of the man and leaving the scene in separate vehicles, with the subject still on the ground.
The man told officers his neck, head and teeth were injured.
The federal officers told Evanston police they attempted to identify an individual who resembled a person they were seeking. The officer told police the individual refused to provide identification, was detained for fingerprinting and resisted detention.
Officers later determined he was not the person they were seeking and learned he was a U.S. citizen. He was released.
The officer also said the federal officers left the area after protesters began to gather because they feared they would be attacked.
Officers later contacted the detained individual, an adult Evanston resident, at a local hospital.
“This is something that that shouldn’t be happening in my city. It shouldn’t be happening on the streets of Evanston, but it shouldn’t be happening in any city across the country,” said Nathan Ryan with Sanctuary Evanston, a rapid response group based in the north suburb.
Sanctuary Evanston and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights released a joint statement condemning the violence and calling on elected officials to investigate the incident.
“Federal agents assaulting people in the streets does not make our community safer for anyone. Regardless of status, every single one of our neighbors is worthy of dignity and safety,” the two groups said.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not immediately be reached for comment. Evanston police continue to investigate the incident, which comes at a time of heightened interaction with federal immigration officers.
Sunday in Austin, Texas, an ICE officer shot a man during a traffic stop and anti-ICE protesters gathered near the scene for hours afterward, according to the Associated Press.
Austin’s police chief said the man who was shot was in serious but stable condition at a hospital Sunday afternoon. An immigration attorney identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan man. Garcas Perez was making a DoorDash delivery before being shot.
DHS said the man is in custody pending removal from the country, according to the Associated Press.
Closer to home, federal officers used pepper spray against protesters outside the Broadview ICE facility Saturday as demonstrators blocked a driveway into the facility, according to Block Club Chicago.
“This isn’t about immigration enforcement. That this is about violence,” Ryan said. “The only thing I think that is like more horrifying than seeing federal agents beating people up on the street is seeing federal agents beat people up on the street without repercussions and accountability.”
Michael Puente is a reporter and anchor with WBEZ. Reach him at mpuente@wbez.org.
Michael Puente
WBEZReporter/weekend anchor