Trump administration officials say anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters in Broadview, Illinois, and elsewhere are violent criminals. This eagle in a speedo disagrees.
Protesters gather at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 16, 2025.
On Oct. 7, 2025, the Condé Nast Traveler readers' choice awards named Chicago the best big city in the United States
A protester wearing a replica concentration camp uniform departs the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 16, 2025.

BROADVIEW, Ill. — I had it on good authority that Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters here in the Chicago suburbs and across the country are violent radicals, possible members of organized crime syndicates and general America-hating agents of chaos.

On Oct. 16, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly told Fox News: “The Democrat Party's main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.”

In the same week, also on Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said protests in Portland and other cities are filthy with "antifa": “They’re at all of these events, they’re encouraging violence, they’re calling everyone fascist, but it’s more than that. It’s hurting the American people. They’re no different than MS-13 or any gang out there.”

Chicago ICE protest was notably devoid of violent criminals and radicals

It sounded concerning, so I headed to the ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb due west of the city, where protesters have been lining up for weeks to oppose the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants.

I did not find a single Hamas terrorist, violent criminal or anti-fascists super-soldier. I did find a man wearing only an eagle mask, a patriotic speedo and a sign that read: “Hey ICE. Take off your masks and I’ll take off mine.”

The man, Micah Holden, assured me he is not part of any organized crime syndicate. He’s a father of two from the western suburbs who was using his lunch break to protest the violence and inhumanity that ICE agents have brought to the area.

“Humor is powerful,” Holden said, “and showing funny costumes beside heavily armed military men shows a lot of contrast.”

I wasn’t able to ask the guy next to us in an inflatable rubber-duck costume if he agreed, but I’m going to assume he did. I’m also going to assume Rubber Duck Man was not a violent illegal-alien criminal radical leftist, or whatever it is people like Leavitt and Bondi are calling them these days.

Chicago's not a war zone. In fact, it's having a lovely autumn.

To say the Trump administration’s claims about anti-ICE protesters and cities led by Democrats are absurd is an understatement of staggering proportions. I stood among the small, entirely peaceful Broadview gathering on Oct. 16 outside a city that was enjoying a sunny and all-around lovely early fall day.

Life in Chicago, which Trump has described as a war-torn hellhole, is largely pumpkin-lined and delightful, with the usual traffic woes and issues big cities confront, but wholly without the darkly weird tales of anarchy the president and his ilk spin.

Just on Oct. 7, the city was named, for the ninth year in a row, the best big city in the United States in the Condé Nast Traveler readers' choice awards.

Republicans are trying to make 'No Kings' protests sound scary

In advance of the "No Kings" protests planned for Oct. 18, Republicans are moving heaven and earth to make the events sound anti-American (is there anything more American than the right to protest your government?) and violent.

That’s because the only reality they will allow in Trump’s America is the reality they want. They must describe the predominantly peaceful protests we’ve seen throughout Trump’s second administration as hellacious gatherings of radicals. ICE protests cannot be suburban dads on their lunch break or retirees offended by what they’re seeing. They must be hotbeds of terrorists and criminals.

A replica concentration camp uniform sends a message about ICE

Lee Goodman has been a regular protester outside the Broadview ICE facility. He’s Jewish and wears a striped replica uniform like those worn in Nazi concentration camps. His uniform has a blue-triangle patch, which was a symbol for migrants in the camps.

He said the only violence he has witnessed here or anywhere in Chicago has come from the federal agents themselves.


“What looked like violence here was them shooting pepper balls at us,” Goodman said.

He then quipped: “I’ve talked to a lot of protesters and no one has gotten their George Soros checks.”

Peaceful protesters are a bulwark against Trump's authoritarianism

Goodman was holding a sign that read “Close ICE Concentration Camps.” His uniform, he believes, helps foster conversations.

“It prompts people to talk to me about it,” he said. “It gets them thinking about the parallels in history. It’s small scale, but it matters.”

Small conversations do matter. And these protests, be they large or small, matter a lot.

When the people running our government lie with impunity, when they quite literally fabricate nonsense about violence that isn’t happening and threats that don’t exist, having people show up in outfits that make a point – or in a lack of clothing, which also makes a point – is vital.

The 'violence' in Chicago is being generated by ICE agents

The violence surrounding ICE activity in Chicago and around the suburban ICE facility is coming from the federal agents who are rounding people up without warrants and discharging tear gas on peaceful protesters.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis already issued an order that government agents in Chicago not use riot-control weapons without warning, and on Oct. 16, she was on the bench saying she has “serious concerns” about whether administration officials are following her order.

“I live in Chicago, if folks haven't noticed. And I'm not blind,” the judge said, citing local news coverage of ICE violence against residents and protesters.

Stop listening to the dystopian tales Republicans tell and open your eyes

The dude in the speedo and the eagle mask is not the problem here. Rubber Duck Man is not the problem, nor is the soft-spoken gentleman wearing the replica concentration camp uniform.

They are rightfully and peacefully protesting government actions that conflict with their morals, their values and their sense of right and wrong. They are standing up to federal behavior that often shocks the conscience.

That’s what’s happening in Broadview. That’s what will be happening in Chicago and in non-war-torn cities, towns and villages across the country this weekend.

You’re welcome to keep eating the garbage Republicans are serving you. But trust me and my new friend the speedo-eagle – it’s still garbage.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago's violent, radical anti-ICE protesters are none of those things | Opinion

Reporting by Rex Huppke, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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