Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes sues Trump administration over arrest at Humboldt Park hospital during Operation Midway Blitz

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of assault and false imprisonment, after she was arrested inside a hospital in the Humboldt Park neighborhood during Operation Midway Blitz last October.

"Throughout Operation Midway Blitz, masked federal agents were terrorizing our communities, including using violence against this elected official. We must stand up for our rights and demand accountability," Fuentes said in a statement.  

Fuentes has said she went to the emergency room at Humboldt Park Health on Oct. 3 to check on someone who suffered a broken leg when they were arrested by federal immigration agents, when agents demanded she leave the hospital, before grabbing her and handcuffing her.

The encounter was recorded on cell phone video shared on social media.

"This is a hospital. Do you have a signed judicial warrant for him? I am asking. I am asking. I did not touch you. I did not touch you," she said as she was handcuffed. "I did not touch you. I asked you if you had a signed judicial warrant for him. It is very simple. It is very simple. That man has constitutional rights. I did not touch you. It is a public space. I am not trespassing. I am asking you do you have a signed judicial warrant?"

"We told you to leave. You are impeding. Now you are under arrest for impeding," said the agent who handcuffed her.

Fuentes was released from custody a short time later.

The alderwoman filed a federal tort claim weeks later, seeking $100,000 in damages. She filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government on Monday, claiming the Trump administration has yet to respond to her tort claim six months later.

"By filing this lawsuit, Ald. Fuentes is showing her community and her constituency the importance of standing up and holding accountable a government whose agents act as if they are above the law," said attorney Jan Susler of the People's Law Office.    

The lawsuit accuses federal agents of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, false arrest, and gross negligence.

According to the lawsuit, Fuentes was not violating any laws when the agents "physically shoved her, grabbed her, swore at her, threatened her, and handcuffed her, causing physical, psychological and emotional injuries."

Fuentes has said she repeatedly asked agents why she was being arrested, but was not given an explanation.

"I simply asked, 'Well, what did I do wrong, outside of ask you if you have a signed judicial warrant. I want you to articulate to me what law did I break? They had to take those handcuffs off, because we have constitutional rights, and in the city of Chicago, every single elected official is going to protect those constitutional rights," she said on the day of her arrest.

Fuentes said she had gone to the hospital to check on a man who suffered a broken leg after ICE agents chased him.

"I asked them if they have a signed judicial warrant to be in the emergency room and have him detained, and they refused to respond," she said. "Not only do they refuse to respond, but they respond with violence by shoving me in the emergency room, and then I continue to ask if they have a signed judicial warrant, and then they handcuff me and threaten arrest, and they threaten arrest because I'm exercising my constitutional right to ask a question."

The White House referred questions on the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Fuentes "was escorted out in handcuffs but NEVER placed under arrest" after she and nearly 30 other protesters showed up at the hospital and tried to gain access to the person who had been detained and brought to the hospital for treatment.

"Once agents removed her from the area, she was free to go," the DHS spokesperson added. "Our brave officers are facing a surge in increase in assaults against them, including terrorist attacks, cars being used as weapons on them, and assaults by rioters. This violence against law enforcement must END. We will not be deterred by rioters and protesters in keeping America safe."