2:31Greg Bovino, an itinerant Border Patrol operational leader who is spearheading President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on immigration in the region, and federal officers survey the Little Village area as immigration raids occur in Chicago, Nov. 6, 2025. Jim Vondruska/Reuters
A federal magistrate delivered a striking denouncement on Thursday concerning the Department of Homeland Security's immigration law enforcement activities within Chicago, claiming the government offered "pervasive untruths" regarding the occurrences during said operation.
"While the Defense might posit that the Court only detects trivial differences, all minor differences accrue, and at a certain juncture, it becomes challenging, if not unfeasible, to credit almost anything the Defense puts forward," penned Judge Sarah Ellis in a harsh 233-page assessment of the government.
This determination arises from a legal matter where Ellis curtailed the Border Patrol's application of force directed at demonstrators and journalists present in Chicago amidst what was termed "Operation Midway Blitz."
Law enforcement officials during a face-off with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal agents within Chicago’s Little Village community, Oct. 4, 2025.Jim Vondruska/Reuters
Ellis conveyed that Border Patrol’s chief commander, Greg Bovino, misrepresented the happenings witnessed in Chicago’s Little Village district throughout October.
"Regarding Bovino, the Court explicitly concludes his account lacks credibility. Bovino seemed evasive throughout his three-day deposition, either answering Plaintiffs’ counsel with ‘clever’ responses, or directly fabricating information," the judge declared Thursday.
Ellis stated that Bovino communicated to the court that numerous persons in Little Village donned maroon hooded tops, which he specified as a hallmark of the Latin Kings gang, but the judge contended the available facts suggested otherwise.
In a declaration this Friday, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security commented that Judge Ellis’ order does not modify "the actual state of affairs on location and at the appeal stage."
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals suspended Judge Ellis’ preliminary order while the government’s challenge is being examined.
Ellis presented supplementary specifics Thursday, concerning the purported recounting of events by Bovino and other federal officers.
Bovino and DHS had affirmed that a stone impacted Bovino’s helmet ahead of his deployment of tear gas, Ellis clarified. Bovino conceded during his deposition he was not hit by any rock until after he discharged tear gas. Bovino then furnished an alternative justification for his utilization of chemical munitions, avowing that he only projected tear gas upon "receiving a projectile, a stone," which "nearly struck" him, Ellis described. Yet on Nov. 4, during the concluding segment of his deposition, Bovino again admitted he was "incorrect" and no rock was launched at him preceding his deployment of the initial tear gas canister.
A protester is seen challenging officers as a stand-off ensues with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal representatives inside Chicago’s Little Village community, Oct. 4, 2025.Jim Vondruska/Reuters
Recordings sourced from body-mounted cameras and aerial footage from Border Patrol members in Little Village "do not correlate" with explanations delivered by the agents in court, asserted Ellis. As one such example, the DHS issued a public declaration stating agents were subjected to a firework resembling an artillery shell, "though aerial and BWC footage suggests those explosions were more likely attributed to agents’ own flashbang devices."
On Oct. 3, Bovino can be heard cautioning the crowd that should they neglect to disperse, they would face detainment. Demonstrators, according to Ellis, began retreating, but enforcers began grabbing them.
In still another instance, the department alleged certain protesters wielded "shields affixed with nails, but video evidence reveals that some shields were simply fragments of cardboard, none of these shields bore nails, and nothing legitimized the forceful behavior displayed by agents towards demonstrators carrying these shields," the magistrate expressed.
The magistrate also noted that body-worn camera footage captured one officer employing ChatGPT to finalize an incident report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
