Federal Agents in Chicago Can Use Tear Gas, Other Measures After Court Vacates Injunction

An injunction from a lower court was ‘constitutionally suspect,’ according to the ruling.

Federal agents handle detainees in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 31, 2025. Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images

A federal appeals court on March 5 vacated an injunction entered by a federal judge against the Trump administration’s handling of protests and riots in Chicago.

A majority of a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit removed a preliminary injunction entered by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis in 2025, describing the injunction as “overbroad” and “constitutionally suspect.”