First Presbyterian Church of Chicago senior pastor Reverend David Black is suing the Trump administration after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were filmed shooting him in the head with pepper balls during a peaceful protest at an ICE facility set up in a suburb of the city.
The agents were standing on a rooftop overlooking parking spaces where peaceful protesters, including Reverend Black, were gathered for a prayer vigil.
Then, without provocation, the ICE agents fired pepper balls down onto the people, hitting Reverend Black in the head, reportedly laughing as they did.
Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who oversees ICE, first denied the shooting occurred.
But once video was revealed, DHS—like MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and most of the Trump administration—invented a new story.
But DHS's latest version of reality was also quickly and easily debunked.
A federal judge also wasn't buying what Noem and her apologists and enablers were selling.
Reverend Black joined as a plaintiff on a lawsuit that cites the Trump administration for unconstitutional threats to First Amendment rights and religious freedoms with "a pattern of extreme brutality" designed to "silence the press and civilians."
According to the lawsuit, Unitarian minister Beth Johnson was "fired upon without warning or justification as she and other protesters and clergy members stood on the sidewalk singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ and other traditional songs of protest" while it alleges that United Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon, like Reverend Black, was also shot at with pepper balls.
The complaint was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois and a coalition of clergy, journalists, media organizations, and local Chicago residents.
The lawsuit alleges federal agencies and officials—including Trump, Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Gregory Bovino, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and ICE among others—of using “indiscriminate” and “escalating” force against peaceful protesters and members of the press at the Broadview ICE Processing Center in the Broadview suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
A photo of Reverend Black being pepper-sprayed in the face also went viral recently, becoming a symbol of resistance:
People were appalled by the unnecessary violence by ICE and the MAGA minions making excuses for it.
The 52-page complaint alleged federal forces indiscriminately used tear gas, rubber bullets, and other projectiles against religious leaders, members of the press, and peaceful protesters at the suburban Chicago ICE processing center.
The plaintiffs are seeking an emergency court order to stop the First Amendment rights' violations by the Trump administration.
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