US Border Patrol personnel shot and injured an armed woman during heated protests against immigration enforcement in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
According to DHS officials, Border Patrol agents were “boxed in” by about ten vehicles and rammed by a group of protesters, one of whom was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. Agents opened fire after claiming the woman pointed the gun at them.
The woman, identified only as a US citizen, drove herself to the hospital after the shooting. Her condition remains unclear. No federal officers were seriously injured in the confrontation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was deploying additional “special operations” teams to secure the area, calling the attack on agents “unprovoked and violent.”
The clash came amid ongoing protests against the increased presence of federal immigration agents in the Chicago area. ICE agents reportedly used pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators attempting to block vehicles from entering an immigration detention facility.
Saturday’s shooting followed a week of escalating confrontations between protesters and federal agents in Chicago and other major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Portland, where demonstrators have accused the federal government of using excessive force.
President Donald Trump authorised 300 National Guard troops to protect federal officers and property, a move sharply condemned by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand that a governor deploy military forces within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said in a statement.
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