A federal judge in Chicago issued a preliminary injunction on November 6, restricting federal immigration agents’ use of force and explicitly declaring the government an unreliable source of information, citing repeated false testimony and fabricated accounts about threats posed by protesters and journalists.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis found the Department of Homeland Security’s evidence “simply not credible” after reviewing hundreds of hours of body camera footage and witness testimony that contradicted official government accounts of violence during Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area.
In her ruling, Judge Ellis specifically called out Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who leads Operation Midway Blitz, for providing false testimony under oath.
Bovino claimed that a rock struck him in the head before he deployed tear gas at protesters in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on October 23.
Video evidence ultimately disproved Bovino’s account, showing he was not hit by a rock before throwing the tear gas canister without warning at demonstrators. Bovino later admitted during his deposition that he was actually struck after he had already deployed the gas, directly contradicting the official DHS narrative that had been used to justify the use of force.
”The government would have people believe instead that the Chicagoland area is in a visehold of violence, ransacked by rioters, and attacked by agitators,” Ellis stated. “That simply is untrue. And the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion.”
Despite submitting hundreds of hours of body camera footage and other video evidence, the government failed to substantiate its claims of widespread violence, the judge found.
The judge noted that while some protesters had thrown water bottles at agents in one incident, “this still did not warrant pepper balls without warning.” She criticized the government for characterizing “rapid response networks and neighborhood moms as professional agitators,” saying it showed “just how out of touch agents are.”
Federal agents are now prohibited from:
- Dispersing, arresting, or using physical force against journalists unless there is probable cause the journalist committed an unrelated crime
- Issuing crowd dispersal orders unless justified by exigent circumstances requiring immediate action to preserve life or prevent catastrophic outcomes
- Using riot control weapons including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades unless “objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat of physical harm to another person”
- Deploying force without first giving two separate audible warnings, with reasonable time to comply
- Arresting anyone who is not resisting a lawful dispersal order unless there is specific probable cause
The order also requires federal agents to:
- Wear visible identification with a unique alphanumeric identifier displayed in two separate places on their uniforms
- Activate body-worn cameras when engaged in enforcement activity, including protecting federal facilities, responding to public disturbances, and conducting immigration enforcement in the field
- Widely disseminate the order to all personnel involved in Operation Midway Blitz up the chain of command to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem
Judge Ellis ordered the government to distribute the injunction to all relevant personnel by 10 p.m. on November 6, 2025.
