ICE agents raided an apartment building in Chicago where they detained American citizens, including children who were zip-tied, reports MSNBC.
About 300 federal agents broke down doors, dropped in via Black Hawk helicopters. and set off flashbangs.
Resident Eboni Watson recalled the assault to ABC7 Chicago:
They were terrified. The kids were crying. People were screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they were bringing the kids out too.
Had them zip-tied to each other. That’s all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where’s the human? That’s one of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said f— them kids.
The ACLU of Illinois communications director, Ed Yohnka, told MSNBC it was a “full-fledged military operation” and the apartment complex was “literally invaded”:
People were dragged out in the middle of the night, as, you indicated, zip tied, put into rental vans and driven off, only to be released later.
There’s no evidence that anybody here was in any way, shape, or form dangerous, nor that anybody here posed any risk to public safety in Chicago or elsewhere. But you’ll notice.
As you’ve indicated, there were lots of cameras around that. That ICE was there ready to take video and to make this a social media spectacular.
(Sources: ABC7 Chicago, MSNBC)