Overview
- U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a refined preliminary injunction governing federal crowd-control tactics during the Chicago-area immigration campaign known as Operation Midway Blitz.
- The order requires at least two separate warnings before deploying crowd-control weapons and permits force only when it is objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat.
- Agents must display visible identification in two places and use body cameras, and the order bars certain restraints and crowd-control weapons against nonthreatening protesters and observers.
- Ellis found government accounts not credible, noting that Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino admitted he lied about being struck by a rock before firing tear gas, and pointing to video contradicting agent testimony.
- DHS said it will appeal, but Ellis declined to pause the injunction; the case stems from a suit by protesters and media organizations who described chilling effects on First Amendment activity after confrontations during an operation that has produced thousands of arrests.