Chicago photojournalist shot with pepper balls outside ICE facility

Colin Boyle, photography director for nonprofit newsroom Block Club Chicago, was shot with pepper balls by federal officers while covering protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.

An array of Chicago-area journalists and others — including Block Club — sued President Donald Trump and various federal agencies on Oct. 6 over the violent response by federal law enforcement to ongoing anti-deportation protests outside the ICE facility.

In a declaration filed in support of the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order, Boyle wrote that he had attended protests at the facility multiple times in September. But, after arriving at approximately 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 26, he wrote that he “witnessed a violent escalation from federal agents unlike any protest I had attended prior.”

“Throughout the morning, I witnessed agents—including one who stood on the rooftop of the Broadview facility many feet away—fire chemicals and pepper balls indiscriminately and brazenly into the crowd of protesters and press, without warning,” Boyle recounted.

He wrote that he stayed near other members of the press, and did his best to ensure that the “PRESS” labels on his backpack and hat were visible. Boyle was also carrying two cameras and wearing press credentials issued by the Chicago Police Department.

Boyle, who was not immediately available for comment, recounted how he saw multiple members of the press shot with crowd-control munitions and then was himself struck.

“As I was photographing protesters and federal agents, I was shot in my left leg by pepper ball rounds,” he wrote in his declaration. “Tear gas seeped into my respirator and visor. My eyes watered and I coughed a lot, making it difficult to do my job.”

He added that when he left the protest later in the day, he was forced to drive with the windows down lest he be “engulfed” by the chemical irritant residue still clinging to his clothes.

“I am perturbed by the brazen actions of federal agents and their indiscriminate attacks on journalists, as well as protesters,” Boyle wrote, adding, “I will not stop practicing the First Amendment and partaking in my job as a photojournalist.”

ICE did not respond to a request for comment. In a press release that day, the Department of Homeland Security described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”

“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS following the day’s events, Block Club Chicago reported, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”

According to a Sept. 27 news release, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”

Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — affecting multiple journalists — and later arrested a reporter.

“Let’s be clear. ICE is seeking to intimidate the Village of Broadview because we dared exercise our 1st Amendment constitutional rights calling for an end to their war on Broadview,” the statement continued. “We will not be intimidated.”

In an article announcing the lawsuit, Block Club wrote that it decided to pursue the case after four of its journalists were shot with pepper balls and tear-gassed.

“We intend to continue to report on the protests, but our ability to do so, to the standards that we hold ourselves to, continues to be impacted by our fears of violence and arrests of our employees and contractors,” said Stephanie Lulay, Block Club executive editor and co-founder. “We’re taking this step to protect our journalists and to assert our First Amendment right to report.”