Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said his officers were never told to “stand down,” from responding to a protest that followed U.S. Border Patrol agents shooting a woman in Brighton Park over the weekend.
As federal agents fired tear gas and pepper balls at about 100 protesters Saturday, Snelling said his officers were on the scene, and without them the event could have turned into a “full-blown riot.”
“This is still our city, and we still have a responsibility to maintain safety and calm in our city,” Snelling said.
After remaining relatively silent on the increased presence of federal agents in the area, Snelling held a news conference Monday aimed at clarifying Chicago police’s role in responding to incidents involving the feds. He asserted that the police department will continue to respond to calls for help.
“Although we do not engage in immigration enforcement, we are going to enforce the law when the laws are violated,” he said.
He also made clear the risks protesters face when they decide to follow or box in the vehicles of federal law enforcement agents: “You are breaking the law when you do that, and you are putting yourself in danger.
“You may not like what they’re doing,” Snelling added. “I can understand that there’s a lot of emotions out there, but that does not mean that you get to commit a crime, especially one that could lead to deadly force.”
Around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Chicago police responded to a call of a woman shot by federal agents near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, Snelling said.
The shooting was the second involving federal agents since President Donald Trump’s administration launched an aggressive deportation campaign in the area last month. Weeks earlier, federal immigration agents fatally shot a 38-year-old Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in northwest suburban Franklin Park.
According to a criminal complaint filed Sunday, Marimar Martinez, 30, was driving “aggressively and erratically toward” a federal vehicle in Brighton Park, eventually boxing in and sideswiping the car near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue.
Federal agents exited their vehicle, and Martinez allegedly drove toward one of them, according to the charges. The agent then fired “approximately five shots from his service weapon,” the charges state.
Body-camera footage appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Martinez drove toward officers before one of them opened fire, according to her attorney.
Chicago police responded to the call of a woman shot, documented the incident and turned it over to federal authorities, according to Snelling.
Chicago police officers must walk a thin line to ensure they are not assisting in federal immigration enforcement, which is barred by state and local laws, Snelling acknowledged Monday.
“One thing about law enforcement, I’ll tell you this right now, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t,” he said.
Around noon Saturday, Chicago police records shared with the Sun-Times appeared to show that a Border Patrol agent had called for assistance, reporting that about 30 agents had been “surrounded by a large crowd of people.” The record shows a dispatch attributed to the chief of patrol stating, “no units would respond.”
The national president of the Fraternal Order of Police and the Illinois State Police FOP Lodge issued a statement saying they were both “shocked and appalled” by the report that Chicago police were told to stand down.
But on Monday, Snelling said the allegation was “absolutely not true.”
“Our officers were out there throughout the entire event,” Snelling said. “I would never tell our officers to stand down, because if our officers were in trouble and we needed help from other officers, I would expect those officers to step in and help us.”
Snelling acknowledged there were “lots of miscommunications” Saturday, stating there was no “internal message” sent out, but there was a phone conversation, and that at the time, the Chief of Patrol, Jon Hein, “had no information that anyone was in danger.”
In a statement issued Monday, Chicago’s FOP President John Catanzara condemned the police department’s response over the weekend and said there should “never be any confusion over whether a stand down order was actually given.”
Catanzara said the FOP’s board of directors has taken a unanimous vote of no confidence in Hein, with one member not voting. They’ve called for Hein to be immediately removed from his command and stripped of his police powers.
Snelling spent much of Monday’s news conference defending Hein against similar attacks: “The man loves this job, and he loves his officers.
“You can’t be pro police when you need something, and then anti when it’s politically advantageous,” Snelling said. “This man has served this city with honor, and I’m going to stand with him till the end.”
Snelling said he’s since met with federal agencies to determine how to better handle these situations moving forward, while acknowledging the feds have different training rules for deployment of force.
Feds deployed tear gas after protesters removed barricades and threw objects at officers, according to Snelling.
At least 27 Chicago police officers were also hit with the chemical agent, according to Snelling. Many officers were pulled from other assignments and did not have proper gear, he said.
He claimed that better communication with federal agencies could resolve these issues, but Snelling did not say why those conversations didn’t happen before or during Saturday’s protest.
He also would not answer when asked whether he thought the use of tear gas Saturday was justified.
Ald. Julia Ramirez, whose 12th Ward includes Brighton Park, said there was “pure escalation” Saturday from federal agents. Community members felt U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officials were “antagonizing” protesters, according to Ramirez.
