Kane County prosecutors are investigating complaints against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents resulting from a Dec. 6 operation in Elgin in which people were allegedly pepper-sprayed and assaulted, State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser confirmed Thursday.
Elgin police received more than 50 calls that day, with 11 police reports generated because of a crash involving ICE agents and a man they were trying to take into custody and during a barricade situation in which the man held agents at bay while inside a Maple Lane apartment, officials said.
In a statement issued by Mosser, she said “my office has been asked to review the matter for possible criminal charges. As the state’s attorney, I have a legal duty to prosecute all violations of state criminal law occurring within Kane County.”
Elgin police refute ICE claims that ‘bottles and rocks’ were thrown during weekend standoff
Mosser said no other information was available for public release.
No arrests were made because of the incident other then for the man being taken into custody by federal agents following the barricade incident.
Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley updated the Elgin City Council on the status of her department’s investigation into the incidents at its Wednesday night meeting. She urged anyone in the public with more information or video to contact the police.
“The department and I remain committed to our community,” Lalley said. “I know these words may not provide comfort to some people or an outcome they may want. It is still very important to me that the Elgin community hear this from me.”
Immigration advocates and residents have questioned Elgin police officers’ actions that day, alleging that no one helped protestors when ICE agents allegedly interacted physically with people and threw chemical irritants at the crowd.
People who attended the council meeting to publicly complain twice disrupted the session by chanting “No justice, no peace” and “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” The second incident resulted in the audience being removed from the council chambers.
Among those in attendance was Delani Hernandez, who said an ICE agent shot pepper spray into her brother’s face at the Dec. 6 event.
“I’m very scared, hopeless, frustrated and, to be quite honest with you, mad,” she said. “I am seeing my community under attack by ICE agents running wild in the streets, our streets.
“We are not just people who live here. We are people who try to make this city better,” said Hernandez, who noted that both she and her brother volunteer at an Elgin soup kitchen.
She saw people being attacked “simply because of the color of our skin, because we are brown,” Hernandez said. “At this time, we don’t feel safe. We don’t feel heard. We don’t feel protected.”
Angel Manuel Martinez said he received a fractured rib during the incident, forcing him to take two weeks off from work without pay.
“On Dec. 6, the city of Elgin and this leadership failed us,” Martinez said. “Our kids are asking us, ‘Are you coming home today?’ Our kids are asking us, ‘Is it going to be you today?’”
Mayor Dave Kaptain called for a 10-minute meeting recess during the second disruption. Lalley, who had left the meeting after her report, returned with five officers so she could speak to the protestors.
One woman told the chief that she had called 911 after being pepper-sprayed three times and assaulted by ICE agents. She wanted police to document what happened because she was afraid.
“(The officers she spoke to) just walked away. They said they couldn’t interfere,” the woman said.
Lalley, who was often shouted down while she tried to speak, persisted in her effort to address the crowd.
“If what you guys want to do is just express your frustration, I’m more than happy to stand here and listen,” Lalley said.
But she also stressed that local police officers are prohibited from interfering with federal immigration enforcement due to the state’s TRUST Act.
“We did what was within the law,” Lalley said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t care. There are some things we can’t do.”
EPD officers did respond to 911 calls and helped provide medical assistance to people affected by the pepper spray, she said.
They’ve also viewed police body camera video and social media accounts in an effort to determine what happened and if crimes occurred. The department’s preliminary findings to ICE charges that bystanders threw bottles and rocks at agents was that there was no evidence so far to support the claims, according to a statement issued by police last week.
David Morgan, a member of One People’s Project who has a TikTok account called MoModerate, live-streamed the scene and said ICE violated local and national laws.
“You guys have to wake up to the fact of where we are at,” Morgan said. “This Republican Party, this (expletive) administration does not plan to fail. They are going all the way. They are going to do everything they can to subjugate and eradicate a group of people who don’t (expletive) deserve it.”
“Historically, this does not end well,” Morgan said.
“I hear you, sir,” Lalley said.
On Thursday, the chief said the city plans to hold a town hall meeting about ICE enforcement efforts in Elgin.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
