Protesters hurl snowballs at immigration agents trying to arrest crash suspect in Chicago suburb

ELGIN, ILLINOIS: A protest in a Chicago suburb turned chaotic when federal immigration agents attempted to apprehend a suspect following a car crash. Demonstrators hurled icy snowballs at the agents, prompting a forceful response. The confrontation escalated until tear gas was deployed to disperse the crowd.

Immigration raid sparks chaotic snowball clash in Elgin

The clash erupted as federal immigration agents moved in to detain a suspect who had fled the scene of a car crash.

As the agents approached, dozens of local protesters gathered around. The demonstrators, angered by what they viewed as an aggressive immigration-enforcement operation, began shouting at the masked agents and pelting them with icy snowballs. 

Video footage shows protesters confronting the agents in the snow-covered streets, with some shouting while others threw snowballs at the agents and their vehicles. In response, the agents issued verbal warnings before deploying tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd.

Witnesses recorded agents tossing gas canisters onto nearby lawns. Demonstrators then attempted to neutralize the tear gas by burying the canisters in snow, presumably to reduce its spread and effectiveness.

Emergency calls surge during Elgin immigration standoff

The confrontation triggered a flurry of emergency calls to local police. Officers initially responded to reports of “subjects in masks” in a residential area. Police dispersed the crowd after confirming that federal agents were operating at the scene.

Later, about 30 additional calls came in, including some claiming shots had been fired. Authorities later determined that no gunfire had occurred. However, the agents’ use of tear gas, described as “chemical irritants” by police, led to seven individuals receiving medical treatment at the scene by local fire department personnel working with police. 

Those individuals were later released after on-site treatment. According to social media posts, at least one arrest was made during the incident, though neither local police nor federal agencies confirmed this publicly at the time.

As of the report, it remained unclear whether the original suspect who fled the crash had been apprehended. “The Elgin Police Department will continue to respond to any calls for service and determine the appropriate action within the parameters of the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits Elgin officers from assisting with federal immigration enforcement operations,” the department said in a statement.

The clash comes amid several months of intensified immigration enforcement in the Chicago area under the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Over the past week, ICE agents have also been deployed to other US cities, including New Orleans and Minneapolis, as part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.