A video circulating on social media showing unidentified officers roughly detaining a teenager in Hoffman Estates has prompted local police to deny any involvement and has led the area’s congressman to call for answers.
In the video, four unmarked cars can be seen pulling up behind another car near a residential street corner. At least six agents emerge, with one agent pulling a female teenage passenger out of the car by her arm. The video shows the unidentified male officer spin the teen to the ground, and he appears to kneel on her upper back near her neck while restraining her arms. The teen screams, “I’m not (expletive) resisting.”
The 18-year-old, who only gave her first name, Evelyn, told the Tribune Wednesday that the incident occurred last Friday and that she and two others were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. They were released without charges after a few hours, she said.
Prior to being detained, the teenagers had been following the agents’ cars and honking their car horn to warn people that federal agents were patrolling the neighborhood.
“I don’t like the way they’re treating everybody,” she told the Tribune. “They can treat anybody how they treated me. We’re here to fight together, not alone.”
She said her parents are Hispanic and have legal status and that she was born in the United States.
“At the end of the day,” she said, “it’s not about race or ethnicity — we’re all humans. They’re treating everybody like we’re not humans.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, responded to questions about the arrests on Tuesday by referring the Tribune to a social media post. The statement from Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, posted on X Monday, did not directly address questions about the incident. “Imagine being so desperate to demonize law enforcement you post a video from a burglary arrest Chicago Police made over a year ago. This isn’t even ICE,” it said.
Chicago police declined to comment, referring questions to Hoffman Estates authorities.
In the video, which was filmed by a resident, a parked Hoffman Estates police squad car is seen pulling away as the unmarked cars surround the teenagers.
Hoffman Estates police Chief Kasia Cawley said her department had an officer at the scene for an unrelated incident Friday around noon.
“We do comply with the Trust Act,” Cawley said, referring to the Illinois law that restricts local and state police from working with federal immigration efforts without a court warrant.
“We do not work with ICE on immigration,” the chief said. “We were not involved with anything that occurred Friday. If we see federal activity, we can’t intervene.”
Agents from ICE went into the police station Friday afternoon to file a report alleging an assault, the chief said, but left, saying they would come back later after protesters gathered at the police station as word of their presence in the suburb spread.
In a separate social media video from that protest, one officer is seen outside the Hoffman Estate police station wearing a vest labeled “Enforcement and Removal Operations,” which is a division of ICE.
Evelyn said she was certain the officers who detained her were from ICE.
The arrests are part of a recent surge in federal activity in the Chicago area called “Operation Midway Blitz,” in which ICE has reported making about 1,500 arrests.
Hoffman Estates police confirmed that the video posted online was of the arrests. The intersection is the same area where the Hoffman Estates squad car was and the squad car in the video bears markings that match those of Hoffman Estates police.
A man who works from his home at the scene shared the video of the arrests, which he said he recorded through his home’s window. The man, who did not want his name used for fear of being drawn into the controversy, told the Tribune that the parents of the teens arrived upon the scene after the arrests, asking officers where the teens were taken, but were given no answers.
“The parents had no idea where they were taking their kids,” the man said. “It’s terrible to see (federal agents) in the neighborhood. It’s sad.”
He was also sorry to see the police car on the scene pull off and then drive away. The police “want nothing to do with it,” he said.
Under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security has ramped up its immigration crackdown, prompting protests and clashes at the ICE facility in west suburban Broadview.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said on Facebook, “There is no doubt that the video is real and that it happened here, in my district …”
“What that footage appears to show — a child being slammed to the ground by an ICE agent — is indefensible,” Krishnamoorthi wrote.
He accused the DHS official of spreading misinformation by falsely claiming this was a prior arrest in Chicago.
“The events in Hoffman Estates embody everything that’s wrong with the Trump Administration’s militarized ICE raids,” the congressman wrote, “cruelty without accountability, secrecy without oversight, and power without restraint.”
Hoffman Estates police posted the following message on Facebook:
“We want to assure all residents that the Hoffman Estates Police Department is committed to the safety and well-being of everyone in our community. We understand that many residents feel unsettled and anxious. We also know that there are several videos appearing on social media regarding (Friday’s) events. We ask that instead of making assumptions that if you have questions about today’s events, that you contact the chief of police.”
Mari Elena, who volunteers for the People’s Patrol, which posts online information about federal agents’ in the suburbs, said she was at the Hoffman Estates police station after the arrest, and saw the agent, whom she recognized from previous run-ins. She said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents also work in the area.
“My dad was an immigrant,” said Mari Elena, who has asked that her last name not be used for security reasons. “This country was built by immigrants. They’re not getting due process, federal agents are not following the law. … I have empathy for these people. They’re human beings.”