Air Force veteran Dana Briggs was captured on video telling federal agents to go away. Suddenly, he was on the ground, surrounded by federal agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff, led away and arrested.
WLS News reported that veterans and other allies met outside of the Broadview ICE detention center on Thursday, demanding that ICE stop "harassing peaceful protesters and immigrants." The protest comes after President Donald Trump announced he was sending in troops to control the crime in Chicago.
"Veterans from the non-profit 'Common Defense,' alongside Illinois Vets for Change and the [American Civil Liberties Union], spoke out against the increasing presence of ICE and use of military force in communities," said the report.
The groups call the arrest of the elderly man an escalation of state-sanctioned violence.
"So-called patriots are turning a blind eye when they see mass deportation efforts tearing apart our community, turning a blind eye when they see masked ICE agents and National Guard troops flooding our streets and numbing us to the reality that our civil rights, our democracy is being crushed day by day," said Jesse Rojo, who serves as the chair of Veterans for Change.