Reporter hit in foot with pepper ball while covering Illinois ICE protest

Reporter Amanda Moore was struck with a pepper ball while covering anti-deportation protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.

Moore told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she has been reporting independently from the site, where protesters have been gathering for weeks as detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.

She arrived at 7 a.m. that morning, and tensions between demonstrators and federal agents escalated within the hour, she said, with officers deploying tear gas and crowd-control munitions.

Moore said she was attempting to move away from the area when she was struck in the foot by a pepper ball. She did not see which law enforcement agent fired the round, noting that gas had already clouded much of the scene.

She was wearing a lanyard with her name and National Press Club ID during her coverage of the protests, Moore said. Despite being clearly identified as a journalist, she said federal officers repeatedly targeted her and others in the press with force, even as reporters maintained a safe distance to film arrests.

“It seems like the feds want everything they do to be completely shrouded, completely private,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a press release on Sept. 26, the agency 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 — and later arrested a reporter.