Journalist tackled, arrested by federal agents at Illinois ICE protest

Journalist Steve Held was arrested by federal officers while reporting on protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 27, 2025.

Held, co-founder and reporter for the investigative outlet Unraveled Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that demonstrators had gathered for weeks outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.

Held arrived shortly before 6 p.m. and saw a few dozen federal agents repeatedly clearing protesters from outside the facility, which was now walled off by a new fence blocking public access. Officers warned protesters to clear the road or face arrest.

With limited space to stand, protesters and journalists scattered onto narrow grassy areas to avoid being in the road, Held said.

About an hour later, during another sweep of the road, the situation grew more chaotic as agents became more aggressive, shoving protesters and seizing items from them. As tensions escalated, Held stepped back and stood on the roadside grass to film on his cellphone.

He had just recorded someone else’s arrest when a group of agents began moving quickly in his direction, appearing to pursue someone behind him. They passed in front of him, then circled behind, shouting “Get back!” As he tried to step aside, Held was suddenly tackled by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and handcuffed.

“They didn’t really care that I was a journalist, or didn’t care that they had left me no actual way out, or even an instant to think about how to get out,” Held said. “He basically just said I didn’t move fast enough for his liking, even though it was like a second, and he was taking me in.”

Held said he was wearing a white helmet and backpack with press markings, as well as media credentials issued by the Chicago Police Department.

After his arrest, he was brought inside the ICE facility, where he was fingerprinted, photographed and held for more than six hours without being allowed to make a phone call.

No charges were filed, and his cellphone and other belongings were returned to him when he was released.

Held said the arrest left him with a headache, and a stiff neck and back.

“It kind of just feels like I was in a mild car accident,” he said.

Held said the arrest removed him from covering the protests that night and disrupted the work of his colleagues, who were making phone calls and contacting lawyers on his behalf. He and his colleagues had been going out there nearly every day for weeks, but haven’t been back since.

“It’s not going to deter me from going out there,” he said. “It’s going to make me probably think a little more about situational awareness and exits, and probably not getting quite as close to the fray as I was.”

This wasn’t the first time Held or Unraveled Press staff faced violence while covering the mass protests outside the facility. On Sept. 19, Held was grabbed by one federal officer, and another shot a pepper ball at his groin. And on Sept. 26, Unraveled co-founder Raven Geary was shot in the face with a pepper ball.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a press release on Sept. 26, DHS 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, 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.