Of course Trump goons won’t stop beating up protesters

Another day, another lower court judge who is justifiably furious with the Trump administration.

This time, it’s U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who is overseeing the case brought by Chicago-area journalists alleging that federal agents have targeted members of the media, religious officials, and peaceful protesters. Who knew that a judge would be so fussy about a few rubber bullets, pepper balls, flashbang grenades, and tear gas? Gotta clear out those priests and reporters.

Ellis issued a temporary restraining order last week, barring federal agents from threatening, arresting, or using force against journalists unless there is probable cause to believe they have committed a crime. And it’s the same for nonviolent protesters. It also required federal agents, before using any sort of riot control weapon, to give at least two separate warnings and allow people a reasonable time to comply. 

However, the government appears to have nearly immediately violated Ellis’ order. At a hearing on Thursday, Ellis told the administration she was “profoundly concerned” the government had already violated the TRO. A declaration in the case said that there are six confirmed assaults of journalists by federal agents, including shooting pepperballs into the driver’s side of a marked CBS press van. So safe!

Ellis ordered Russell Hott, the field director for ICE’s Chicago office, to appear in court next week, saying, “The field director is going to explain to me why I am seeing images of tear gas being deployed and reading reports that there were no warnings given out in the field.”

You’ve seen enough of the administration’s antics in court to know that the administration has no intent of producing Hott. You see, all of a sudden, the government insists that the masked thugs who are violating the court order are not even with ICE! They are Customs and Border Protection agents, so they want to send CBP’s Deputy Incident Commander Kyle Harvick. 

This is a constant shell game with the administration, where responsibility is shifted constantly, allowing Department of Justice attorneys to show up and say they just can’t possibly confirm or deny anything the government is doing.

Besides refusing to produce Hott, the administration also isn’t happy that the judge has asked someone to testify about how and when the government is going to equip their thugs with body-worn cameras. Ellis has ordered them to wear body-worn cameras, but oh hello, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Skedzielewski, what disingenuous bullshit do you have about this?

First, the government doesn’t want anyone to actually testify about cameras, and instead just wants to send along some written declarations. You’ll note that this would mean that these officials would not actually be questioned by the court or the plaintiffs. 

In a really rich touch, the government asked that if the court does require live testimony, they’d like to have their witnesses appear remotely because “None of the declarants reside in the

Chicago area and travel would be especially burdensome due to the current lapse of appropriations.”

LOL, LMAO even. ICE and CBP agents are all getting paid—if not illegally, at least legally dubious, mind you—during the Republican shutdown, and the government is spending scads of money on these immigration crackdowns despite the shutdown. 

Skedzielewski explained that body-worn cameras are only in a “select” area, and that doesn’t include Chicago. Oh, and also, it would be hard to redact the footage to protect the safety and privacy of agents and others in the video.

LOL, LMAO again. The government does not care about the privacy of the people that federal agents are attacking and arresting. They put detainees in their gross little sizzle reels. This is just a way to defy the court. 

Oh, also, it’s too gosh-darn hard to get cameras and distribute them quickly. 

LOL, LMAO, also again. ICE and CBO have an unbelievable amount of money sloshing around to spend. And when the administration wants to do something, it pulls out all the stops to do it quickly. 

When Trump decided he wanted to send troops into Portland and Chicago, it didn’t even take a full day to make that happen. But somehow all that logistical prowess is unavailable when it comes to strapping body cameras on these thugs.

You can expect the administration to try to draw this out as long as possible, with infinite excuses that all boil down to “We are not going to comply with your order and instead will wait for the conservatives on the Supreme Court to step in.” 

Can’t wait to hear how the history and tradition of the United States compels a decision that federal agents can brutalize people with impunity for … reasons.