As many as 200 protesters chanted "shoot ICE" at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in suburban Chicago on Friday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Protest leaders reportedly plan to demonstrate again on Saturday.
The site in Broadview, Illinois, has been one of several locations where protests have occurred against ICE enforcement throughout the Chicago metro area in recent weeks.
WLS-TV reported the Friday protest amounted to a standoff at the Broadview site but had the potential to become deadly after police arrested one person carrying a gun.
Elias Cepeda, a volunteer with Pilsen Defense and Access, appeared in an Instagram video taken shortly before his arrest, the outlet reported. Cepeda, 41, had been joining other protesters at the facility for weeks.
His mother said he is a licensed concealed carry permit holder and is demanding his release, while other demonstrators shared their accounts of his arrest.
Alongside video of the protest, DHS posted: "Sickening chants of 'shoot ICE' from the mob of over 200 violent psychopaths outside the Broadview Processing Center in Illinois. This is transpiring just a few days after the horrific terrorist attack on an ICE facility in Dallas.
"DHS is calling on @GovPritzker and @ChicagosMayor to tone down their rhetoric about @ICEgov and condemn these riots," DHS wrote, referencing Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, both of whom are Democrats.
"Terrorism will never stop our mission to defend the homeland," the agency wrote.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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