Border Patrol Commander Bovino Throws Tear Gas at Chicago Protesters, Violating Court Order

On October 23, 2025, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino was caught on video personally throwing at least one tear gas canister into a crowd of protesters in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, directly violating a federal court restraining order issued just two weeks earlier by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis. The incident occurred during an immigration enforcement operation near the Discount Mall at 26th Street and Whipple Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.

The Court Order Violation

Judge Ellis had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on October 9, 2025, that explicitly prohibited federal agents from deploying tear gas and other weapons against journalists, protesters, and anyone not posing an immediate threat to immigration enforcement agents. The order required advance warnings before any tear gas deployment and limited such use to situations involving imminent threats.

Video evidence captured Bovino—visible in uniform without a helmet—pulling a tear gas canister and tossing it over the heads of other agents directly into the crowd of protesters. The deployment occurred without any warning, in direct violation of the court’s explicit requirements.

The False Rock Narrative

The Department of Homeland Security initially defended the tear gas deployment by claiming that agents, including Bovino, had been attacked by protesters who hit the Border Patrol chief in the head with a rock before he deployed the tear gas. This narrative was intended to justify the use of force as defensive action against an immediate threat.

However, video evidence contradicted this official account. The footage showed that Bovino threw the tear gas canister first, and any projectile hitting him occurred afterward, not before. This discrepancy between the government’s claim and the video evidence would later prove critical in court proceedings.

In subsequent deposition testimony, Bovino admitted he had lied about the sequence of events—specifically, that he was not hit by a rock before throwing the tear gas, but rather afterward. This admission of lying under oath would become a central finding in Judge Ellis’s November 6, 2025 preliminary injunction ruling.

Immediate Legal Response

The Chicago Headline Club and other journalism and First Amendment advocates who had obtained the original restraining order filed a notice of alleged violation immediately after the incident. Attorneys alleged that Bovino violated “multiple paragraphs” of Judge Ellis’s October 9 order.

On October 24, 2025—just one day after the Little Village incident—Judge Ellis summoned Bovino to appear in her courtroom to answer for the alleged TRO violations. This was a highly unusual move, demonstrating the judge’s concern about a federal law enforcement commander openly defying a court order.

Context: Operation Midway Blitz

The Little Village tear gas incident occurred during “Operation Midway Blitz,” a massive multi-agency immigration enforcement surge that Bovino was leading in Chicago as “Commander-at-Large.” The operation, which began September 6, 2025, had already resulted in over 3,000 arrests by late October and had generated significant community protests.

Bovino operated outside normal Border Patrol command structure, reporting directly to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. His role in Chicago was modeled after his earlier Los Angeles operations in summer 2025, which had similarly involved aggressive tactics and military-style enforcement that sparked protests and ultimately led to federal National Guard deployment.

Pattern of Judicial Defiance

The Little Village incident was not an isolated event but part of a pattern:

• October 9: Judge Ellis issues TRO restricting tear gas use
• October 16: Judge Ellis expands order to require body cameras
• October 23: Bovino violates TRO by throwing tear gas without warning
• October 24: Judge Ellis summons Bovino to court
• October 28: Judge Ellis orders Bovino to appear daily to report on operations

The speed with which Bovino violated the court order—just 14 days after its issuance—demonstrated either disregard for judicial authority or a deliberate strategy to test the limits of court oversight of federal immigration enforcement.

Significance

This event is the critical incident referenced in the October 28, 2025 timeline event about the ICE leadership purge, where it notes that Bovino was “caught on video personally throwing tear gas canisters at protesters in violation of federal court orders.” The Little Village incident directly led to unprecedented daily court supervision and ultimately to Judge Ellis’s finding that Bovino had lied under oath.

Most significantly, the same day Bovino appeared in court to answer for this TRO violation (October 28), news broke that he was vetting replacements for 12 ICE field directors being purged by the Trump administration—indicating the administration specifically chose an official under federal court supervision for contempt to select new ICE leaders, signaling preference for officials willing to defy judicial authority.

The incident represents a fundamental challenge to the principle that federal law enforcement must comply with court orders, establishing precedent for defiance of judicial oversight during immigration enforcement operations.