21 arrested, police officers injured at protest outside ICE processing center in Broadview

Twenty-one people were arrested Friday morning during a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview following a skirmish in which several police officers were injured.

During the demonstration that took place one day after a federal judge and group of attorneys conducted a rare site visit of the facility, a scuffle between police and protesters broke out as people chanted and a musician strummed a guitar while singing folk songs, according to live feeds of the area.

The Cook County sheriff’s office did not immediately have information about the arrestees or the nature of their charges.

According to a statement from Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, two Broadview police officers, one Illinois State Police trooper and a Cook County sheriff’s deputy were injured in the confrontation. The Broadview officers and sheriff’s deputy were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police said the trooper was treated on scene for minor injuries.

In the statement, Thompson called the injuries to the officers “outrageous.”

“They have chosen their fists. These out-of-towners have chosen to brutalize police officers who have been protecting their free speech and protecting them against assaults by ICE agents,” she said in the statement.

A joint force of state and local police, which includes the Broadview police, state police and the sheriff’s office, has been securing a designated protest area outside of the immigration facility, which has been the site of frequent demonstrations that have at times grown large and chaotic.

The unified command stepped in after weeks of protests during which federal agents fired baton rounds and tear gas upon protesters, blanketing the mostly residential area in clouds of gas.

State and local officials have said the unified command’s presence is meant to protect protesters and uphold public safety, but their tactics have also attracted controversy.

Since the unified command began securing the protest area last month, more than 100 people have been arrested.

The protesters have begun attending court appearances with charges ranging from resisting arrest to battery to a police officer.