West Cook News

Days after the deadly shooting at an United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, more than 200 protesters gathered at the Broadview ICE Processing Center where they blocked entrances and chanted “arrest ICE," "shoot ICE” and “kill ICE."

Eleven protesters were taken into custody at the Sept. 27 protest that escalated into violence, bringing the total number of arrests this month at Broadview ICE to 27. 

At least one person arrested had a 9mm handgun. Police also recovered a suspected explosive device.

A rioter, stripped to the waist, shows multiple welts on his back after being repeatedly struck by pepper bullets during a violent clash with law enforcement outside the Broadview ICE Processing Center. | Terry Newsome

Law enforcement responded with tear gas as protestors physically confronted officers, equipped with fireworks, N95 and gas masks, goggles, protective padding and large quantities of supplies.

“As I stood in the audience there, watching all the ‘peaceful’ protesters who were yelling and swearing at ICE and following them out, trying to get them to shoot them, you hear other people saying, ‘Shoot ICE, kill ICE, do ICE, kill ICE’ to these ICE officers, and they’re telling them to stay back,” activist Terry Newsome told Chicago City Wire.

Newsome described the crowd as a mix of local demonstrators, Antifa affiliates and organized activists. 

He said he observed tents, supplies and security planning onsite, noting a pattern of premeditated logistics, including legal support for those were arrested.   

“Absolutely, this is organized,” Newsome said. “This was one tent. Now they have two tents. Full of food, drinks, snacks, water, phone numbers for legal service, set up. People work at it like it's a concession stand. Swear to God.”  

Beyond just supplies, he noted the presence of vehicles loaded with protective gear like body shields and gas masks. 

“There's a guy teaching them how to fight against ICE and how to properly wear their gas masks and their goggles,” Newsome said. “I was able to do facial recognition. I'll send it to you. My friend did it again. And he's the guy that got arrested in Michigan for being part of, you know, other shit in the past.” 

According to Newsome, some individuals in the crowd are full-time paid activists. He identified one coordinator as Whelton Herron, a New York-based professional activist with a history of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. On X, Newsome linked to records showing Herron’s involvement in leading rioters during strategy sessions.

“Thanks to a friend who ran a facial recognition scan we ID’d this paid Marxist scumbag. Whelton Herron from NY with prior arrests in MI. I wonder what goes to his PO Box? Soros or USAID $$$$$” Newsome said in the post. 

Video footage from the previous weekend’s protests shows rioters shouting “fascists,” “traitors” and “Nazis" at law enforcement personnel. 

In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin condemned the escalating violence and directly called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to denounce the rioters.

 “Just days after the vile terrorist attack on an ICE Dallas Facility, over 200 rioters gathered outside the Broadview Processing Center in Illinois, and some began chanting 'shoot ICE.' These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop. There is no place in American politics for violence,” McLaughlin said in a press release. 

“We are calling on Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson to condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE,” McLaughlin said. “These riots outside the ICE Broadview Processing Center and attacks on ICE officers come after Democrat politicians, including Governor Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, have villainized and demonized ICE law enforcement.” 

DHS claims that assaults on ICE officers have increased by over 1,000%, attributing the sharp rise to inflammatory political rhetoric and what it describes as a coordinated campaign by extremist groups. 

Tablet Magazine highlighted the role of rhetoric from leftist politicians, including Pritzker and Johnson, in encouraging the ICE rioters. 

Pritzker has compared ICE’s tactics to that of “Nazi Germany” and Johnson said that ICE officers are “terrorizing our communities.”  

“One might wonder if the Democratic Party has paused to ask whether its rhetoric has condoned, if not encouraged, the radicalization of its activist base,” Tablet Magazine wrote. “The evidence suggests otherwise. Those Democrats who have addressed the violence have largely defended antifa-style rhetoric while retreating once more to the familiar talking point of gun control.” 

Notably, Jeff Tischauser, a senior research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), has been accused of collaborating with Chicago Antifa elements, such as those involved in the Broadview ICE center riots. Tischauser, who has openly posted pro-Antifa messages and worked with local leftist figures to write attack pieces, has also used the SPLC's platform to smear critics of progressive policies.

Similarly, Charlie Kirk was targeted by the SPLC in multiple reports, including one just a day before his assassination on the campus of Utah Valley University. 

The SPLC's false characterization of Kirk and Turning Point USA as promoting authoritarianism and white supremacy drew backlash following his death, though the group later condemned the violence.

According to federal officials, the recent actions at the Broadview ICE Processing Center were not an isolated incident, but part of a broader, nationwide escalation in anti-ICE violence. 

This trend has included seven attacks on ICE officials this year alone, including the deadly shooting at the Dallas ICE facility, an arson attack in Washington state, an attempted vehicular assault on agents in Colorado, a July 4 shooting at an ICE facility in Texas that left an officer injured, and violent riots in Portland, Oregon. 

ICE’s campaign in Chicago, codenamed "Operation Midway Blitz," is a Trump administration initiative launched earlier this month in honor of Katie Abraham, a 20-year-old student killed in a DUI crash by Julio Cucul-Bol, a previously deported undocumented immigrant using a fake identity.

Katie’s father, Joe Abraham, a resident of Glenview, praised the operation and criticized state officials who refuse to cooperate with ICE detainer requests.

“Have you buried a child?” Abraham told the Lake County Gazette about politicians resisting ICE’s presence. “You haven’t buried a kid? I’m not sure I carry too much weight with what you have to say. Your words kind of ring hollow to me.”

Abraham has become a vocal critic of Illinois’ sanctuary state policies, blaming them directly for his daughter’s death.

“Illinois politicians helped kill my daughter,” Abraham said. “My tax dollars—mine… I almost kind of indirectly paid to kill my daughter, I helped fund my daughter's death.”

According to DHS, Midway Blitz has already led to over 500 arrests in the Chicago area, targeting members of the Tren de Aragua gang as well as individuals with criminal records for serious offenses such as murder, sexual assault, including crimes involving minors, felony assault, domestic violence, drug trafficking and armed robbery.