Federal Judge Restricts Use of Tear Gas, Other Anti-Riot Measures in Chicago

The judge said federal officers were wrong about what happened at the protests. A DHS spokesperson said the ruling ‘risks the lives and livelihoods’ of officers

People detained earlier in the day are taken to a parking lot on the far north side of the city before being transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Chicago on Oct. 31, 2025. Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images

A federal judge has restricted the federal government’s use of tear gas and other types of anti-riot measures in Chicago.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said during a hearing that government witnesses’ claims of violence at protests in Chicago were not credible, citing several occasions where she said video recordings contradicted immigration officials’ accounts about what happened.