Chicago judge releases deposition videos, bans riot control tactics

A federal judge in Chicago ordered the public release of hours of videotaped deposition testimony by U.S. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday restricting federal immigration agents' use of chemical agents and other riot-control tactics during enforcement operations in the Chicago area. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said the videos and other recordings undercut government testimony and showed agents used force in ways that chilled protesters, journalists and clergy who had challenged federal immigration actions since early September.

Ellis, who last month issued a temporary restraining order, said she found the government's evidence not credible after reviewing bodycam, aerial and other video. "I find the government's evidence to be simply not credible," she said from the bench, and added that some uses of force "shock the conscience." The released recordings include parts of Bovino's deposition in which video appears to show him tackling a protester and agents firing pepper-ball projectiles that struck the Rev. David Black in the face while he was praying outside a detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.