A criminal investigation has been launched against an ICE agent after a reporter claimed that a projectile was fired at her car. The reporter, Asal Rezaei, works with CBS News Chicago. She said the incident occurred while she was driving with her driver’s side window down. Rezaei claimed that she was approaching the 25th Avenue entrance of the detention center to check out if any activity was taking place.
She noted that there was no active protest, and that’s why she left the area. However, according to her complaint, a masked ICE agent approached her vehicle and shot a pepper ball about 50 feet from the inside of the fence. She claimed that the pepper ball hit the driver’s side panel. As a result, chemical agents filled her vehicle’s interior.
The reporter claimed that following the incident, her face had “been on fire for at least the last 10 minutes.” She added that there was white powder left all over her windshield due to the pepper ball. Rezaei also posted about the incident on social media. She wrote, “An ICE agent took a direct shot at my car today. Absolutely unprovoked. My window was open, and chemicals went all over my face. Been puking for two hours.”
“At this moment, it’s not really clear why that officer took a shot at me. My car has been here several times, although I did not identify myself verbally as a member of the press,” the reporter lamented in the police report.
She insisted that there was no protest going on. She added, “There was actually nobody there except one other person that was a member of a fire department that was there checking in on the buildings around this area.”
However, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has refused her allegations. “Absolutely not. No member of the media at CBS or any other outlet was ‘attacked.’ For their safety, we remind members of the media and journalists to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots,” the spokesperson added.
The reporter revealed that she had been going to the Broadview detention center for weeks. Earlier this month, when the “Operation Midway Blitz” began in Chicago, she began visiting the center. Since the incident, there has been a lot of chaos in the city. Additional reports claimed that at least 75 protestors gathered outside the detention center on Saturday night.
