The mayor of Evanston, Illinois, says he is opening two investigations after federal agents were filmed pinning down and repeatedly striking a person in the head as they arrested him Friday.
Videos shared on social media showed federal agents pinning a man to the ground and punching him in the head. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the agents were conducting an immigration enforcement operation at the time. It said agents had observed a “red vehicle” that was “aggressively” tailing their vehicle, and when the agents turned, the car crashed into Border Patrol. DHS said a “hostile crowd” gathered around their vehicle and began “verbally abusing them and spitting on them.”
But Mayor Daniel Biss disputed the agency’s account of the incident in an interview with CNN, calling DHS “a bunch of liars.”
He told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday he is opening two investigations into the incident: one into the “violence” federal agents used against people he described as “innocent bystanders,” and one into the vehicle collision. The Border Patrol agents “deliberately caused a car accident” by intentionally braking while being followed by the red vehicle, he said.
“They didn’t like being followed, because they don’t like being watched, because they don’t want the world to know what they’re doing,” said the mayor of the Chicago suburb. “They forced this car accident, and then they started literally beating up innocent bystanders.”
CNN has asked DHS about the mayor’s remarks.
The incident comes amid growing scrutiny of the aggressive tactics used by Border Patrol and ICE, including against US citizens. Multiple people have been shot by federal agents during immigration enforcement operations, and multiple car crashes and alleged “rammings” involving federal agents have occurred as DHS sets out to meet high arrest targets set by the Trump administration.
In this still taken from a video, federal agents are seen kneeling on a man and repeatedly striking him in the head on Friday, in Evanston, Illinois. – Andrew Wymer
DHS said three US citizens were arrested “as a result of their violence against law enforcement” in Evanston on Friday, but the agency did not specify what the three had allegedly done, and did not identify them or list any charges against them.
In response to CNN’s questions about the videos showing the man being punched in the head, a DHS spokesperson sent a statement saying a Border Patrol agent had “delivered several defensive strikes” to a person he was arresting. The statement said the man had kicked the agent and “grabbed the (agent’s) genitals and squeezed them” during the arrest, but that account was not readily supported by the video.
Video shows one agent restraining the man, then dragging him around as another agent helps pin him to the ground. As one agent punches the man several times, the man screams, “Help me, help me.” Agents appear to fight off a screaming crowd trying to help the man by pushing them away and threatening them with pepper spray.
“I can’t breathe,” the man says as the agent continues to kneel on him. The agents then drag him into a vehicle, his left shoe lying on the ground.
Biss said that after the man was arrested, federal agents “took him away and booked him and drove him around” but did not take him to receive medical care. The man was “not in good shape” after the arrest, he said. CNN has asked DHS whether it took the man to receive medical care.
“This is lawlessness,” the mayor said. “This is an outrage, and everyone’s got to stand up against it.”
By arresting three US citizens, he said, federal agents “weren’t even trying to enforce immigration. They were just trying to go after dissent.”
Following a new Evanston policy, local police obtained the badge numbers of the federal agents involved in Friday’s arrests, Biss said. “Now we have the first step toward accountability, by being able to identify them,” he said.
City officials are “thinking through options, including going to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, or potentially communicating with our state’s attorney to figure out the right way to demand justice for our residents who were assaulted,” he said.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker had asked federal officials to pause immigration enforcement operation in and near homes, schools, parks and other areas where families would be celebrating Halloween over the weekend.
Andrew Wymer, who took videos of the incident, described the agents’ actions as “absolutely deplorable.”
“These agents chose to terrorize our neighborhood on Halloween, a day that is supposed to be special and fun for families,” Wymer said. “This is not normal. This is not OK, and our town will stand with our immigrant neighbors no matter what.”
Five people from Mexico were arrested Friday in Evanston and the neighboring city of Skokie, DHS told CNN. The agency did not specify the reason for each arrest but listed trespassing and entering the United States without authorization, a civil immigration offense.
Local and state officials criticized the immigration operation in the area Friday.
“I’m disgusted and outraged by reports of ICE terrorizing students, families, and community members today in Evanston, Skokie, and across the 9th District,” US Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, said on X. “My team and I are monitoring the situation and coordinating with local partners to protect our neighbors. We won’t tolerate this inhumanity and will defend the dignity of every person in our community.”
Speaking to CNN on Friday, Biss had a clear message for federal officials: “To Gregory Bovino, Kristi Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection: Get the hell out of our city.”
CNN’s Dalia Faheid and Jordan D. Brown contributed to this report.
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