Group denounces arrest of 70-year-old veteran outside Broadview, Illinois ICE facility
Veterans spoke out Thursday morning in response to the arrest of a 70-year-old veteran who was protesting over the weekend at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, Illinois.
Illinois Veterans for Change was joined by members of the American Civil Liberties Union at a news conference Thursday morning. They said the use of force against Air Force veteran Dana Briggs was unacceptable.
Briggs is one of five people facing federal charges after being detained during protests outside the facility this past Saturday. A grassroots veterans' organization is now planning to meet outside facility Thursday morning, saying Briggs was targeted while exercising his First Amendment rights.
Briggs, a longtime member of the activist group Common Defense, was released Monday from the Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown. He was still wearing the same clothes, with injuries from his fall and arrest.
He was pushed to the ground by an agent when he was arrested this past weekend.
Charging documents said the Air Force veteran ignored orders to clear the street, and when he attempted to hand his cell phone to another protester, Briggs was accused of swinging his arm, which made contact with an officer.
"They didn't give me time to move," Briggs said this week. "All I saw was a hand coming at me after I handed my phone off."
Veterans at the news conference Thursday said their hope was to draw attention to the fact that a veteran was injured and detained for doing what he fought for. They said what he fought for includes being a patriot and protesting.
"This is not a partisan issue. It's not Democrat versus a Republican. This is just, are you willing to stand up for his right?" said Jesse Rojo, chair of Illinois Veterans for Change. "Are you willing to stand in solidarity to protect our democracy and say that due process is not something we can ignore, the Constitution is not something we can ignore, immigrants are not the enemy?"
Meanwhile on Chicago's South Side, concern from community leaders was rising Thursday after a new round of ICE arrests the night before.
Agents arrested four people Wednesday outside a Bronzeville neighborhood homeless shelter.
Security surveillance caught the moments ICE agents in sport-utility vehicles pulled up outside a homeless shelter in Bronzeville. Agents were seen jumping out, and people started running as agents followed.
Bright Star Church runs the former migrant shelter, which is now converted into a 260-bed homeless shelter. Despite having the names of everyone who stays in there, church leaders said the U.S. Department Homeland Security never contacted them to see if who they were looking for was registered.
"There were, probably again, 20 that they chased," said Bright Star Community Development Corporation executive director Caryl R. West.
"What they have portrayed in the public is not really how things are being executed, and if what they're saying is true, there's a way to do it," said executive director Lakreshia Kindred.
More than 800 people have been arrested as part of the immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, Operation Midway Blitz.