A Presbyterian minister in Chicago has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging violations of his First Amendment and religious freedom rights after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shot him in the head with pepper balls during a peaceful protest.
The Rev. David Black, senior pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, joined journalists and protesters in a lawsuit accusing the administration of using “extreme brutality” to silence dissent and suppress freedom of speech and religion.
Video footage from the September 19 protest in Broadview — a Chicago suburb that has become a flashpoint for demonstrations against the president’s immigration policies — shows agents firing chemical rounds from a rooftop as Black prays below. The pepper balls struck him in the head, knocking him to his knees before other officers allegedly sprayed him with tear gas.
“I invited them to repentance,” Black told Religion News Service. “I offered an altar call and invited them to receive salvation — to be part of the kingdom that is coming.”
The lawsuit claims agents dressed in full combat gear have “indiscriminately used flash grenades, tear gas, and chemical rounds” against peaceful protesters and clergy, resulting in serious injuries and unlawful detentions.
“No legitimate purpose exists for this brutality or for these arrests,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote. “The government is acting to intimidate and silence the press and civilians engaged in protected First Amendment activities.”
Black and other clergy members, including Rev. Beth Johnson of the Unitarian Church and Rev. Hannah Kardon of the United Methodist Church, say ICE agents specifically targeted faith leaders. Kardon told Religion News Service that she was shot with pepper balls while praying, adding, “We’re a faith of immigrants — Jesus was an immigrant. What’s happening here is fundamentally wrong.”
The complaint also accuses the Trump administration of violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, arguing that targeting clergy during prayer “substantially burdens their exercise of religion.”
In response, government attorneys argue the lawsuit seeks to “dictate crowd-control policy” and impose restrictions that would prevent law enforcement from responding to threats. They say more than 30 federal agents have been injured and over 50 protesters arrested during recent demonstrations.
Faith leaders across the country — including Pope Leo XIV and other prominent clergy — have condemned the administration’s mass deportation campaign and the violent response to protests, calling for restraint and respect for constitutional rights.
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