ICE mistakenly detains US citizen who was left injured on the ground in Chicago suburb, officials say

By Julianna Bragg, CNN

(CNN) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents mistakenly targeted a US citizen in a Chicago suburb on Sunday, leaving him on the ground with various injuries, according to the Evanston Police Department.

Evanston police officers were dispatched Sunday morning after an unknown caller reported hearing two men arguing and someone saying an individual would be taken into custody, according to an Evanston Police Department news release.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found one man on the ground with several bystanders helping him. The man reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth, and Evanston police officers called for an ambulance, the release said.

Witnesses told officers they believed ICE agents were attempting to detain the man, police said.

One responding officer, who was not at the scene, located two SUVs near an intersection and spoke with one person who identified himself as a federal agent conducting a “fugitive investigation.” The person was wearing plain clothes and a vest marked “POLICE” with federal law enforcement markings, according to police.

Agents later determined the man they had targeted was not the person they were seeking and learned that he was a US citizen, Evanston police said. He was released.

The officer also noticed blood on the agent’s hands, which the federal official said resulted from an injury he received while trying to detain the man. The agent declined medical treatment.

Five federal agents were operating in separate vehicles to search the area, police said.

Evanston police officers later contacted the man at a local hospital and an evidence technician photographed and documented his injuries.

As the Evanston Police Department continues its investigation, officers are preserving available body camera footage and interviewing witnesses, police said.

The Department of Homeland Security told CNN that ICE agents conducting a targeted enforcement operation encountered a person who resembled their target and “immediately identified themselves as law enforcement.”

“The individual was given lawful commands but was not cooperative and refused to identify himself,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN. “ICE officers relied on their training and later left the scene without further incident once the individual finally identified himself.”

DHS said the man refused assistance from ICE agents, but did not address the man’s injuries in its statement. A federal agent also told Evanston police they left the area where protesters began to gather because they feared they would be attacked, according to the release from local police.

“ICE has authority for lawful arrests where authorized under 8 USC 1357. Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the statute and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” a DHS spokesperson said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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