Photojournalist shot with pepper balls by state trooper at immigration protest

Photojournalist Jon Stegenga was shot twice with crowd-control munitions by Illinois State Police while reporting on protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview on Nov. 1, 2025.

The facility, where detainees are being held and processed ahead of deportation, has drawn escalating protests and federal response since early September, following the Department of Homeland Security’s launch of the federal immigration crackdown, Operation Midway Blitz.

Following pressure from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a unified command composed of local law enforcement agencies and headed by the Illinois State Police took over the protest response Oct. 2, establishing designated protest zones around the building.

Stegenga, co-founder of the independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering one of a series of demonstrations outside the facility.

“There was a line of probably about 50 protesters, and they were holding these three large foam shields that covered their entire line of people,” Stegenga said. “They were just holding their ground, facing off with a line of state police.”

As the lines of law enforcement and protesters met, the only trooper armed with a pepper ball gun fired a series of the chemical munitions at the feet of the demonstrators. The troopers then struck at the shields and tried to rip them away, Stegenga told the Tracker.

“I was on the grass for the curb because the line of officers weren’t allowing us to get close enough to the people in the street,” he said. “But all of a sudden, I felt this sharp pain and looked down at my kneecap, and I had been hit by a pepper ball. And then, a few seconds after, I got shot again on my thigh.”

The photojournalist added that only members of the press were standing along that strip, and no one was between him and the state police officer when he was shot. Stegenga added that he has no doubt that he was targeted.

“What other reasons would they have for firing at us? We weren’t moving forward. We were just kind of standing, photographing from the side,” Stegenga said. “We were all clearly marked with press credentials. I even had a shirt that says ‘Press.’ We had our gear on — all of us with cameras and mics and everything — and I don’t see how I could have been mistaken for a protester.”

When reached by email about the assault of Stegenga and two other journalists, Illinois State Police Chief Public Information Officer Melaney Arnold wrote, “How were the individuals identified as press; what were they wearing? In situations like this, it can be difficult to distinguish between protestors and media.”

Arnold did not respond to subsequent emails or the initial questions sent by the Tracker. In response to an incident in October, Arnold told the Tracker, “ISP and the Unified Command’s highest priority is to protect the community and the rights of individuals to express their First Amendment rights — whether they are protestors or members of the media.”