Pastor shot in the head by ICE agents sues Trump administration over First Amendment threats in Chicago [View all]
Source: The Independent
Wednesday 08 October 2025 19:26 BST
A Presbyterian minister in Chicago is suing Donald Trump’s administration after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were captured in viral video firing pepper balls at his head during protests against the president’s anti-immigration agenda.
The Rev. David Black joined a lawsuit with Chicago reporters and protesters accusing the administration of unconstitutional threats to their First Amendment rights and religious freedoms with “a pattern of extreme brutality” designed to “silence the press and civilians.”
Last month, Black — dressed in black and wearing a clerical collar while standing with demonstrators — was hit with chemical agents while praying in front of an ICE facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb that has emerged as a flashpoint for protests against the administration as the president deploys National Guard troops to Illinois. “I invited them to repentance,” Black told Religion News Service. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”
Black is not alone, according to the lawsuit. Agents “dressed in full combat gear” have “indiscriminately” tossed flash grenades and tear gas and fired guns loaded with chemical irritants and rubber bullets against demonstrators in the Chicago area, the complaint says.
Presbyterian minister David Black is hit in the head after ICE agents fired pepper balls at him
@mskellymhayes.bsky.social
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-chicago-lawsuit-minister-shot-first-amendment-b2841941.html
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://newsguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Broadview-Complaint-10.06.25.pdf
= new reply since forum marked as read