Featured Image Credit: OCTAVIO JONES/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, News
A Chicago pastor has filed a legal complaint against Donald Trump after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent allegedly fired a pepper ball at his head.
The incident occurred back in September, in the midst of a rally by Illinois residents against the sudden deployment of National Guard troops in the city, which formed part of the Republican leader's controversial mass deportation plans.
Reverend David Black, a Presbyterian minister, stood in line with fellow anti-Trump protestors outside of an ICE facility in Broadview, dressed in black and wearing a clerical collar. There, onlookers say he stood praying.
Despite his peaceful protest, however, Black and his comrades were targeted by violent troops who used chemical agents in a bid to deter them.
Advert
Now, almost a month on from the needless attack, the priest has made the decision to take legal action against the Trump administration.
Speaking to the Religion News Service, Black revealed he'd joined a lawsuit along with a number of other protestors, as well as several reporters who were working on the scene at the time.
Black has now accused both Trump and his advisors of threatening the country's First Amendment rights, as well as his right to religious freedom, by exhibiting a 'pattern of extreme brutality' in the deployment of the National Guard into some of the nation's most diverse cities.
This, he says, forms part of a wide mission to 'silence the press and civilians'.
"I invited them to repentance," the pastor claims. "I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming."
According to the official suit, Black was 'offering prayers and urging ICE officers stationed on the roof of the Broadview ICE facility' at the time of the attack ' to repent from their unnecessarily brutal enforcement of the immigration laws'.
Seconds later, it adds, a pepper ball was fired at his head. In response, only a handful of troopers rush to his aid.
In footage that has since gone viral online, other agents can be heard laughing in the background.
According to the complaint, agents 'dressed in full combat gear' fired flash grenades and tear gas 'indiscriminately' at the group, as well as fired guns that had been loaded with chemical irritants and rubber bullets.
Despite the backlash that ICE has since faced, Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary, has since defended the behaviour of the officials.
"This footage is from almost a month ago," she insisted in an X statement. "What this clipped video doesn’t show is that these agitators were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the federal facility—impeding operations.
"Over and over again, law enforcement ordered these agitators to move off of federal property so the vehicle could move. Law enforcement verbally warned these agitators that they would use force if they did not move and stop impeding operations. They did not comply."
McLaughlin went on to claim: "Shortly after, rioters began throwing rocks, bottles and launching fireworks at the law enforcement officers on the roof. At the time of this incident, this facility held criminal illegal aliens including gang members, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals.
"Obstructing law enforcement puts officers, detainees and the public at risk. If you are obstructing law enforcement you can expect to be met with force."
Despite this, the plaintiffs lawyers insist there was 'no legitimate purpose' for the 'brutality' exhibited in is occasion.
"The officers are not physically threatened," the filing continued. "No government property is threatened.
"Defendants are acting to intimidate and silence the press and civilians engaged in protected First Amendment activities."