Over the Weekend in Chicago: Cops, Crowds, and Clouds of Tear Gas

The episode explores how a federal immigration operation in Chicago spiraled into a weekend of unrest, leaving police officers and protesters gasping through the same tear gas. As ICE agents deployed military-style tactics under Operation Midway Blitz, city police found themselves trapped between conflicting orders and growing political tension between Illinois officials and the federal government.

#ChicagoProtests #ICEOperation #PoliceAccountability #FederalOverreach #MidwayBlitz

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hello andwelcome to the
Vlogging Pod. Over the
weekend inChicago, thecity found
itself at thecenter of arapidly
escalatingconflictbetweenfederal
immigrationagents, localpolice, and
protesters. What unfolded
wasn't asingle chaotic

(00:24):
event. but achain of
confrontationsthat stretchedacross
multipleneighborhoods,leaving behind
a haze of teargas andconfusion
about whoexactly was in
charge. At the
center of allof it wasImmigration
and CustomsEnforcement,
or ICE, whoseongoing

(00:46):
operationknown asMidway Blitz
turned partsof the cityinto what
residents andreporters havedescribed as a
war zone. Itbegan late
Friday inLogan Squarearea, wherewitnesses
captured videoof a federalimmigration
agent rollingdown a vehiclewindow and
throwing atear gascanister onto
a crowded St. The footage

(01:08):
spreadquickly,showingresidents
choking andfleeing as thegas drifted
acrosssidewalks andstorefronts.
No local lawenforcement
was leadingthisoperation. And
the publicoutrage oversuch force
spread onlinealmostimmediately.
Later thatsame night,another

(01:30):
operation tookplace in theSouth Shore
neighborhood,where federalagents
repelled fromhelicoptersand storm
departmentcomplexes,according to
residents andlocalofficials. Several
families,including U.S. citizens, were
zip tied anddetained asICE searched
for suspectsallegedlyconnected to

(01:50):
gang activity.
Helicoptersand flashbangs could be
heard acrossthe district,while Chicago
policeofficers werekept on the
perimeter andnot includedin the raid
itself. BySaturdaymorning,
protests hadgathered inBrighton Park
after reportsthat BorderPatrol agents

(02:10):
working underICE'S commandopened fire
after beingboxed in byvehicles.
Federalofficialsletterdescribed itas
self-defense. whilewitnesses said
a woman whowas shot hadbeen not been
armed. Chicagopolice wereeventually
dispatched,but only todirect traffic
and secure thearea, not to

(02:30):
lead or assistin the federal
response. As
the day woreon, tensionsreaching a
breakingpoint. At theBroadview ICE
facility,protestsswelled andICE agents
deployed teargas, pepperballs, and
smoke grenadesto disperse
the crowd. Inthe confusion,several
Chicago policeofficers werecaught in the

(02:52):
gas cloudsalongsideprotesters.
Coughing anddisoriented asthey tried to
clear trafficand protectbystanders.
That momentwas caught oncamera,
showing localofficers beingtreated no
differentlythan civilianscaught in the
chaos. Thefallout
deepened laterthat nightwhen aninternal

(03:13):
Chicago PoliceDepartmentdispatch
appeared toshow a messagetelling
officers notto respond toa call for
help from ICEagents whoclaimed theywere
surrounded. Some policesources saidtheir
leadership hadordered them
to stand down. CPD's public
statementlater insistedthey had
responded, butonly forpublic safety

(03:35):
and trafficcontrol. Theconflicting
accounts leftrank and fileofficers
frustrated andunsure ofwhere the line
of commandtroops stood.
By Sunday,IllinoisGovernor JPPritzker
publiclycondemned thefederaloperations,
saying theyhad turnedChicagoneighborhoods
into an activewar zone. Healso made

(03:57):
clear that thestate ofIllinois was
prepared tolegally
challenge anyattempt todeploy federal
troops orNational Guardforces without
the state'sconsent. Hiscomments
reflected alargerpoliticalrift, one
where stateleadersaccusedfederal
agencies ofacting withoutcoordination,
leaving citypolice andresidents to

(04:18):
deal with thefallout.
Across theweekend,Chicago policefound
themselves inimpossiblepositions
present butPowerless.
They were sentto managecrowds,protect
property, andensure safety,yet oftenfound
themselvesexposed totear grassfrom
operationsthey didn'tauthorize andcouldn't
control. Thefederal agentsrunning

(04:41):
OperationMidway Blissanswered only
to Washington,leaving cityleadership
scrambling toexplain theimages of both
protesters andpolice choking
side by sidein the samegas of tears.
And today'spodcastsources come
from Federalimmigrationagent throws
tear gascanister inLogan StreetSquare. CBS

(05:03):
News Militarystyle ICE raid
on Chicagoapartmentbuildingshowing
escalation inTrump'scrackdown.
Time magazineBorder Patrolagents shoot
women inChicago asprotestersconfront
immigrationpersonnel.
Reuters ICEtear gasses
Chicago policeduring clashwithprotesters.
Newsweek. Chicago police

(05:25):
ordered not tohelp ICEagents tension
rise betweenagencies. Newsweek.
Usinghelicoptersand chemicalagents,
immigrationagents becomeincreasingly
aggressive inChicago.
AssociatedPress. Thankyou for
listening. Until nexttime, bye-bye.
For now.