Politics
Federal Agents Fired Tear Gas at Lakeview Crowd Protesting Immigration Raids, Videos Show
A still image of a video of federal agents deploying tear gas in Lakeview on Oct. 24, 2025. (Provided)
Federal agents fired tear gas at a crowd protesting the latest aggressive immigration raid Friday morning, this time in Lakeview, just six blocks from Wrigley Field, according to videos obtained by WTTW News.
The incident, which took place on Lakewood Avenue near Roscoe Street in the heart of one of Chicago’s wealthiest and most tourist-friendly neighborhoods, marks the second straight day that federal agents have deployed tear gas against Chicagoans and the sixth time in 21 days.
Other videos showed the confrontation beginning when agents detained a man who appeared to be working on a home.
The video of the incident, sent to WTTW News by Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward), shows a large, unmarked SUV rolling backward through the tree-lined street, home to some of Chicago’s most expensive homes, as dozens of people yell at the agents to go home and whistles sound in the background.
No warnings could be heard on either of two videos obtained by WTTW News before a cloud of tear gas enveloped the neighborhood. Several canisters, lying on the street, appear to have been deployed.
As the SUV rolls backward, dozens of mostly White Lakeview residents — holding up cell phones — heckle masked agents dressed in combat uniforms.
A video obtained by Unraveled Press, a news organization that has been documenting what the Trump administration calls “Operation Midway Blitz,” shows officers deploying the tear gas from inside the white SUV.
“ICE’s un-American and undemocratic tactics of fear and intimidation in our neighborhoods are a direct attack on everything Chicago stands for — inclusion, compassion and love,” Lawson said. “We have a proud history of welcoming people of all backgrounds in our community and our commitment to those principles are stronger now than ever.”
Agents also conducted raids in Lincoln Park, Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43rd Ward) said.
Knudsen said federal agents were targeting landscaping and construction crews, and urged property owners to allow their employees to leave the area.
It was unclear what prompted federal agents to deploy tear gas or whether agents issued an order to the crowd to disperse or warned that they would use chemical agents if that order was ignored.
If agents deployed tear gas without a warning, that would violate an order issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis two weeks ago. That order prohibits federal agents from deploying tear gas and other weapons against journalists, protesters and anyone not posing an immediate threat to immigration enforcement agents.
If agents determine crowds pose a threat, they must issue two warnings before using tear gas and other types of chemical sprays in a case brought by the Chicago Headline Club, Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, Block Club Chicago and other media organizations, according to Ellis’ order.
Several agents are captured on video, walking calmly through the cloud created by the chemical agent and do not appear under threat.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson referred to the Lakeview residents who confronted agents as “agitators" and said they “swarmed” agents in a statement issued Saturday morning.
“The agitators obstructed federal law enforcement and ignored multiple warnings to disperse and continued to impede operations, including trying to deflate a vehicles tire,” according to the statement. “Agents deployed crowd control measures to disperse the crowd and agitators began throwing objects at them. To protect themselves, the Border Patrol deployed additional crowd control measures to safely clear the area.”
Multiple videos of the confrontation in Lakeview show no evidence of agents issuing an order to the crowd to disperse, or warning that tear gas could be deployed. Nor do the videos show residents trying to immobilize agents' vehicles or throwing objects at the agents before the tear gas was deployed.
In a separate case challenging President Donald Trump’s deployment of 700 National Guard troops to Chicago, U.S. District Court Judge April Perry said she found federal officials’ assertions that federal agents had been subjected to serious and coordinated violence by protestors “simply unreliable.”
Teams of masked immigration enforcement agents staged a series of increasingly aggressive raids across the city’s North Side.
The Laugh Factory posted a video of two people being violently detained by several masked agents near Broadway and Belmont Avenue, outside the Lakeview comedy club.
It is not clear why either person was detained.
Two Chicago police officers are present at the scene of the incident. At least one appears to speak to one of the men being detained, and attempts to restrain another member of the public trying to prevent one of the men from being detained by agents.
City ordinance prohibits police officers from assisting federal agents carry out immigration enforcement actions.
A CPD spokesperson said officers responded to a “call of a battery in progress at Belmont Avenue and Broadway.”
“Upon arrival, officers observed federal agents engaged in a physical altercation with two individuals,” according to the statement. “A crowd had also gathered in the area. Officers worked to de-escalate and conduct crowd control to ensure all those who had gathered at the location remained safe. CPD did not make any arrests and left the scene once the area was cleared.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
