https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/chicago-ice-jb-pritzker-trump-stephen-miller-rcna238264
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/judge-dismisses-case-against-artist-ambushed-by-ice/ar-AA1OxGVm
US military veterans increasingly face arrest and injury amid protests over Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and his push to deploy national guard members to an ever-widening number of American cities.
The Guardian has identified eight instances where military veterans have been prosecuted or sought damages after being detained by federal agents.
The latest incident occurred in Broadview, outside Chicago, where 70-year old air force veteran Dana Briggs was charged with felony assault on a federal officer on 29 September.
A widely shared video on social media shows a masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agent advance on and knock over the elderly veteran during a protest outside an Ice detention center.
Federal prosecutors claim Briggs committed assault when he “made physical contact with an agent’s arm while the agent attempted to extend the safety perimeter”.
Briggs pleaded not guilty and was released on an appearance bond.
Jose Vasquez, a former US army staff sergeant and executive director of the progressive veterans’ organization Common Defense, which counts Briggs as a member, said veterans like Briggs “have stood up at Ice protests and faced arrest because we recognize a pattern of state-sanctioned abuse”.
Another veteran, John Cerrone, was arrested while protesting outside the Broadview Ice detention the day before Briggs. A social media video shows a group of masked agents tackle the 35-year-old marine corps veteran, who served as a combat infantryman in Afghanistan, as teargas floats in the air.
Cerrone says he was held for nine hours at the Broadview facility, alone in a cell with walls covered by blood, hair and mucus. He says that while he was behind bars he was visited by an Ice agent who boasted that he had shot Cerrone in the head with rubber bullets and exclaimed: “Where is that pussy!”
“Their conduct was completely unprofessional in my experience in combat infantry,” Cerrone said. “Even in Afghanistan, we had very clear rules of engagement. The conduct of these agents was such that if it occurred in Afghanistan, they would be removed from the front line. They would be court-martialed.”
Cerrone was released after receiving a citation for “exhibiting disorderly conduct on federal property”, a misdemeanor under federal law, which he plans to contest.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Guardian: “Anyone who assaults or otherwise harms law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” Jackson added that “Ice officers are facing an 1,000% increase in assaults because of unhinged rhetoric from activists and Democrat politicians smearing heroic Ice officers.”
Jackson and a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson did not provide data to back up the claim about a 1,000% increase.
In a brief reply to questions from the Guardian, a Department of Justice spokesperson said: “Under this Administration, we follow the law and have a one-tier system of justice, and this Department of Justice will relentlessly uphold the rule of law to protect our nation.”
“What drives so many veterans into action is not only the injustice faced by immigrants and protesters, but also the larger threat to democracy rooted in government brutality and militarization,” Vasquez, the Common Defense leader, said. “The disturbing escalation in arrests and violence signals that the basic freedoms we once swore to protect are under attack.”
Not all of the veterans discussed in this story indicated their military service at the time of the incidents or their arrests.
On Thursday, the US district judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order restricting federal agents from “using riot control weapons” against journalists, protesters and religious practitioners in Chicago unless there is probable cause that the individuals have committed a crime.
In a statement in the wake of Briggs’s arrest, Demi Palecek – an Illinois army national guard member who is running as a Democrat for a state legislative seat in Chicago – criticized Ice agents for their lack of training.
“As a military member, I can tell you – the way they handle weapons is reckless and dangerous,” she said. “I’ve seen Ice agents with their fingers on the trigger of real M16s, pointing M9s directly at people. Trigger-happy. No trigger discipline… with this level of escalation and incompetence, people will die.”
An DHS spokesperson countered that “Ice and other federal law enforcement are using proper force with professional training to protect the public as well as federal buildings from violent Antifa-aligned terrorists.” Those arrested assaulted Ice officers, the spokesperson said.
Veterans have also protested Ice’s use of a Chicago area VA hospital’s parking lot as a staging ground for immigration raids.
Senator Tammy Duckworth – a former US army helicopter pilot who lost the use of both legs when she was shot down over Iraq – offered her support to demonstrators on 17 September, demanding that secretary of veterans affairs, Doug Collins, evict agents from the Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital.
“It adds injury to insult when VA surrenders resources in support of reckless, paramilitary activities that do nothing to enhance Veteran care – and even worse, are actively harming Veterans and US servicemembers by rounding up these patriotic Americans, along with their family members, and deporting them with little or no due process out of the country they were willing to risk their lives to defend,” she wrote.
“We have veterans who are staying away and not getting healthcare or coming in carrying their passports,” said Aaron Hughes, an Iraq war veteran and former Illinois national guardsman, who is a member of the anti-war veterans group, About Face, which organized the protest.
Nicholas Podjasek, a 34 year-old US air force veteran born in Honduras, told the Guardian he cancelled a primary care appointment at the Hines VA which had been scheduled for Thursday.
Though Podjasek, like nearly all veterans is a US citizen, he said many are nonetheless worried about being detained by Ice “because we are brown”, citing a Trump administration policy that legalized racial profiling in immigration enforcement.
“These people are masking themselves and they zip tie children,” he said. “They’ve broken into people’s homes and apartments. They could easily detain me on public transportation on the way to the VA or right outside the gate.”
In an email to the Guardian, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz denied such fear exists. Kasperowicz said the VA was “proud to support its federal partners in the fight against illegal immigration” and that there “has been no impact on veteran care or facility access” from Ice agents’ use of the Hines VA parking lot.
In Portland, Oregon, US marine corps veteran Daryn Herzberg II, who served in Afghanistan, is seeking $150,000 in damages after he was hospitalized after being tackled from behind by Ice agents while protesting outside a federal facility in Portland on 13 August.
A video posted on social media shows an agent grabbing Herzberg by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times while saying, “You’re not talking shit anymore are you?” according to a Federal Tort Claims Act complaint filed by his attorney.
A DHS spokesperson countered that the former marine corps sergeant, who was honorably discharged in 2012, “is well known for acts of violence outside the Ice facility in Portland, including throwing rocks and other objects at the building and personnel.” The spokesperson also said Herzberg has “used fake blood to falsify injuries” and “perpetuated and encouraged violence” against Ice.
Herzberg has not been charged with a crime. His attorney, Michael Fuller, denied the spokesperson’s assertions and said “the Ice assault video speaks for itself.”
“The fact that DHS won’t attribute its slander of a US marine to an actual witness speaks to the baseless nature of its allegations,” the attorney said.
As previously reported by the Guardian, Afghanistan war veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II faces federal conspiracy charges after participating in a 11 June protest that sought to block the transport of two Venezuelan migrants who were in the country legally seeking asylum when they were detained by Ice.
In Washington DC, attorney general Pam Bondi announced on 14 August that she was charging Afghanistan war veteran Sean Charles Dunn with felony assault after he allegedly threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol agent. However, prosecutors were unable to secure an indictment from a grand jury.
Other notable veterans arrested, include:
Iraq war veteran and US citizen George Retes, 25, was arrested on 10 July by Ice during a raid on a cannabis farm in Ventura county, California where he worked as a security guard. He was held in federal custody for three days.
Retes is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful arrest. In an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, he wrote: “If it can happen to me, it can happen to any one of us.” In a social media post on X, the Department of Homeland Security alleged he was arrested for assault. As of this writing, no charges have been filed.
A DHS spokesperson told the Guardian that the justice department was reviewing the case, “along with dozens of others, for potential charges related to the execution of the federal search warrant in Camarillo”.
On 25 August, 20-year army combat veteran Jay Carey – who served in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan – was arrested and faces two federal misdemeanor charges after burning a flag in front of the White House. Carey, from western North Carolina, was part of a small group of veterans who came to Washington to protest the national guard’s deployment to that city.
On 13 June , an 87-year-old disabled veteran in a walker was arrested after he traveled from an assisted living facility in Florida to protest Donald Trump’s military parade. John Spitzberg, whose service spanned the army, air force and air national guard, was among dozens of veterans arrested for protesting what they said was the politicization of the armed forces and Trump’s authoritarian instincts. Spitzberg is a member of Veterans for Peace.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/us-veterans-protest-ice-raids
A legal analyst has warned that the arrest of a Chicago TV producer by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on Friday could have been a direct violation of a recent court order in the city.
Debbie Brockman, a producer for Chicago television station WGN-TV, was apprehended by border patrol agents in a residential area of the city on Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed her arrest in a statement to Newsweek stating that she “was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.” As did WGN though it mentioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instead. WGN added no charges were filed were filed against Brockman.
For the senior writer covering the courts for Slate, Mark Joseph Stern, her arrest “appears to be in direct violation of a temporary restraining order prohibiting DHS officers from arresting journalists.” The officers who arrested, he wrote on Bluesky, “may well be subject to contempt of court.”
Why It Matters
Immigration agents, under the direction of the Donald Trump administration, have been scouring the streets of Chicago for illegal immigrants to deport, sparking protests across the city.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary restraining order banning federal agents from using riot control weapons and other force against protesters and journalists covering demonstrations, who are not posing a threat to law enforcement.
The order from District Judge Sara Ellis also forbids agents from arresting, threatening to arrest, or deploying physical force against journalists unless they have established probable cause that they have committed a crime.
What To Know
Videos circulating on social media show a woman, who later identifies herself as Debbie Brockman, being held to the ground by masked officers before being handcuffed and loaded into a silver van. In some of the videos, onlookers can be heard calling the agents “fascists” and telling them to “get out of our neighborhood, get out of our city”.
According to what witnesses told WGN, another person had been arrested in the Lincoln’s Square neighborhood before the journalist and was already in the federal agents’ van when Brockman was put into it. Residents said that immigration agents seemed to be targeting men working on a nearby property. Brockman, according to her employer, is a U.S. citizen.
Stern shared on Bluesky a screenshot of the temporary restraining order’s text, which reads: “It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants, their officers, agents, assigns and all other persons acting in concert with them (hereafter referred to as ‘Federal Agents’), are temporarily EN/joined in this judicial district from: a. Dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against any person who they know or reasonably should know is a journalist, unless defendants have probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a crime.”
At time of writing, Newsweek has found no video evidence, released by the DHS or other sources, showing Brockman assaulting federal agents.
What People Are Saying
Tricia McLaughlin, who oversees the DHS’s public outreach, said of the arrest in a statement provided to Newsweek: “U.S. border patrol was conducting immigration enforcement operations and when several violent agitators used their vehicles to block in agents in an effort to impede and assault federal officers.
“In fear of public safety and of law enforcement, officers used their service vehicle to strike a suspect’s vehicle and create an opening. As agents were driving, Deborah Brockman, a US citizen, threw objects at border patrol’s car, and she was placed under arrest for assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of illegal aliens violently resisting arrest and agitators and criminals ramming cars into our law enforcement officers. These attacks highlight the dangers our law enforcement officers face daily—all while receiving no pay thanks to the Democrats’ government shutdown.”
In a statement to Newsweek, WGN said: “A WGN-TV creative services employee was detained by ICE. She has since been released, and no charges were filed against her. Out of respect for her privacy, we will have no further statements about this incident.”
Josh Thomas, a resident of the area where Brockman was arrested, the Lincoln’s Square neighborhood, told WGN: “I heard yelling and screaming and honking. I ran downstairs to see what was going on. It looked like Border Patrol agents in a minivan had slammed some lady to the ground. And so, I ran up to her and asked her for her name. She said she was a WGN employee.”
Resident Giordana Mahn told WGN: “I’m scared for my community. I’m scared for anyone who is Black or brown. You’ll see in the video, the [WGN employee] wasn’t Black or brown […] they are terrorizing anyone. Everyone in Chicago.”
What Happens Next
According to WGN, Brockman was released from federal custody at 3 p.m. on Friday, local time, and no charges were filed against her. As of 6 p.m. on Friday, the TV station said, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Chicago had confirmed no charges had been filed in Brockman’s case.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem participated in an enforcement operation in Illinois, leading to multiple detentions and arrests related to Operation Midway Blitz. Advocates argued the operations could unfairly target U.S. citizens and impact mixed-status families. DHS has confirmed the five arrests.
Noem said, “President Trump has been clear: if politicians will not put the safety of their citizens first, this administration will.” She added, “Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking. Our work is only beginning.”
DHS said those arrested were undocumented with prior convictions, including DUI with a child passenger and violent assault. Two U.S. citizens were briefly detained for safety and released.
Officials said the operation targeted noncitizens with criminal histories in Chicago over several weeks. Video shared by Noem showed agents escorting handcuffed individuals.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “On August 28, ICE arrested Nathaniel Rojas, a criminal alien from the Dominican Republic. His criminal history includes convictions for felony grand larceny, felony aggravated DUI with a child passenger less than 16 years old, identity theft, and retail theft. This criminal alien is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
Critics said many detainees had no criminal record, citing federal data, and argued the administration’s focus on high arrest totals raises due process concerns.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/lawsuit-alleges-ice-detains-u-s-residents/ss-AA1Oi2Ll
Chief Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino dared Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York on Thursday to walk on the streets of Chicago after Goldman dismissed violence against federal immigration enforcement officers.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have been the scene of multiple riots as opposition to the agency’s operations targeting illegal immigrants has intensified. “America Reports” co-host John Roberts played a clip from Goldman’s Wednesday appearance on “CNN NewsNight,” where the Democratic congressman dismissed the violence before asking Bovino for his thoughts.
“You know, that congressman is flat-out blind. You know, there was that 12k hit on myself. Thankfully, I’m still with the living, perhaps the congressman doesn’t want us to be with the living,” Bovino said.
“So how about him coming down here and walking some of the streets with us and maybe pick up [Democratic] Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker, and we’ll take a walk and see what violence really looks like, because it happens every single day to our ICE and Border Patrol agents,” Bovino continued. “We just had another incident this morning, John. A Border Patrol agent was rammed by a vehicle and someone was taken into custody. It happens every single day, perhaps he needs to come out here and we’ll show him a thing or two.”
“I have not seen… a thousand percent upswing and all this stuff. I haven’t seen examples of that,” Goldman said in the clip Roberts played.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, an illegal immigrant who was a member of the Latin Kings gang, was arrested and charged with offering $10,000 for Bovino’s death and $2,000 for information on the Border Patrol chief, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Some of the rioters in Chicago called for the ICE agents to be arrested or shot in a video posted online during one of the riots.
Two people were killed during a shooting at an ICE office in Dallas on Sept. 24, with the gunman taking his own life. In Texas, there were two previous incidents where shots were fired at ICE or Border Patrol facilities since July 4, with ten people being charged with attempted murder in connection with the former incident.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday told MAGA influencers to turn over names of people they’re investigating to FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi for prosecution.
Trump’s comments happened during a roundtable discussion at the White House about Antifa. Several cabinet members attended the meeting, including Patel, Bondi, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and White House senior advisor Stephen Miller.
In one instance, MAGA influencer Nick Sortor told Trump that he saved a burning American flag while reporting on the streets of Portland, Oregon. Trump told him to give [Bimbo #3] Bondi the name of the individual who was burning it, so “we can start prosecutions.”
Trump told another MAGA influencer named Seamus Bruner, who claimed to have discovered at least $100 million in donations to Antifa from nongovernmental organizations, to “give ’em to Kash or [Bimbo #3] Pam” for prosecution.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-roundtable
Leticia Nevares, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years, was detained after a green card interview and has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since mid-September, according to her family, who outlined her situation on a GoFundMe page for her legal fees.
Newsweek was unable to locate Nevares in the ICE detainee database. Newsweek has reached out to ICE for comment via email on Friday and contacted Nevares family via GoFundMe for comment.
Why It Matters
Nevares’ reported detention comes amid an immigration crackdown. President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation, including green cards and visas, have been detained.
Several people awaiting green cards have reported being apprehended at required immigration interviews. The administration has repeatedly asked that people without proper documentation self-deport. The White House has announced that certain speech might cause green card applicants to face extra scrutiny.
What To Know
Nevares, who is a mother of three and works as an elderly caretaker, was reportedly detained on September 16, “After attending a scheduled meeting with immigration services to obtain a green card…she was placed in handcuffs and transported to a detention facility,” her son, Steven Rodriguez wrote in the GoFundMe.
He said that the appointment was supposed to be “the final step in a long process of gaining legal residency,” an effort that community members had contributed to. Green card interviews are typically later in the application process, following review of the 1-485 form, biometrics, and background check information.
Rodriguez says she has no criminal history, telling NBC Bay Area, “she’s like a model citizen and she’s being treated like a criminal.”
She was initially transported to a facility in Bakersfield, California, but according to an October 3 update, Rodriguez said his mother has been “transferred to a facility in California City,” which is run by the private prison company, CoreCivic.
There have been several reports of poor conditions at a remote facility that opened in late August. The facility is located in the Mojave Desert on the grounds of a former state prison. “This place is built to break us,” Sokhean Keo, a California City detainee who is facing deportation to Cambodia, told The Guardian.
The facility is one of many that have been popping up across the U.S. to meet the demands of the dramatic increase in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
What People Are SayingSteven Rodriguez said in the GoFundMe for his mother’s legal fees: “Through countless hours of service—helping at local food drives every week, participating in fundraisers, caring for sick neighbors, and providing end-of-life care to the elderly, the entire town is feeling her absence.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a previous statement shared with Newsweek: “Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history.”
What Happens Next
Her family says her next court hearing is on October 28. The GoFundMe for her legal fees surpassed the family’s goal of $16,000, and as of Friday night was over $25,500.
