ACTIVISTS RALLY WHERE MAN SHOT BY ICE AGENT
Two guns were found at the Belmont Cragin home of a man who was shot by a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent early Monday on the Northwest Side, authorities said Tuesday.
The allegation surfaced as immigration activists rallied Tuesday outside the home in the 6100 block of West Grand to decry the growing fear and uncertainty for Chicago’s Latino community as a result of the raid and its target, which remains unclear.
A law enforcement source said Tuesday that federal agents recovered the gun they say the 53- year- old pointed at them as they tried to serve an arrest warrant for his 23- yearold son. Another weapon was found in the home, the source said. The man’s family says he was unarmed.
His son, who was born in the U. S., was questioned about his citizenship before being released without charges about nine hours after the raid, according to family attorney Thomas Hallock.
The son has a felony weapon charge stemming from a February arrest near the home, though it’s unclear if Monday’s raid was connected to that. He is scheduled to appear for that case in Cook County court on Wednesday.
The wounded man and his wife came to Chicago from Mexico more than 25 years ago and are legal residents, Hallock said. The other six people home at the time of the shooting, including three children, are U. S.- born citizens, he said.
At Tuesday’s rally, Ald. Gilbert Villegas ( 36th) said a CPD captain told him that city officers knew ICE agents would be in the area but had no part in the raid until they responded to the shooting. Since then, his office has been flooded with hundreds of calls from concerned residents, Villegas said.
“People talking about, ‘ Am I next? What can I do?’ And I don’t have an answer for them, other than to know they have rights,” Villegas said. “The coincidence of what’s going on in Washington, D. C., and what’s happening here, I don’t like it.”
The shooting showed what can happen “when ICE agents are unshackled,” said Sophie Vodvarka, communications coordinator for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Special agents were trying to arrest someone when another person pointed a weapon at the agents, and one agent opened fire, according to ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok. Rusnok declined to release more details Tuesday. The 53- yearold was shot in the arm, according to Chicago Police. He is expected to be released from the hospital this week and will likely face criminal charges, Hallock said.