Bushra Amiwala Hit with Pepper Bullets During Protest Outside Broadview ICE Facility (Broadview, IL) – Bushra Amiwala, a Skokie school board member and candidate for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, was struck by pepper bullets fired by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a protest outside a federal detention facility Friday morning, according to witnesses and her campaign.
The demonstration, held outside the ICE facility on Beach Street, was organized to oppose the transfer of detainees to out-of-state facilities and to demand better access to family contact information for those in custody.
Amiwala, the first Gen Z elected official in the country, said she was tying handwritten notes of encouragement to a fence outside the facility when she heard popping sounds and saw projectiles fired from the rooftop.
“The pepper bullets exploded in front of me. I felt the sting of chemical irritants all over my skin,” Amiwala said in a statement. “It was incredibly difficult to breathe. I couldn’t stop coughing. Residue from the pellets drenched my clothing, and you could see the powder all over my hijab.”
She described the incident as an “unprovoked assault,” saying ICE agents fired indiscriminately into the crowd of demonstrators.
Video footage circulating online shows agents using chemical agents against protesters who were gathered outside the fenced-off area. The Broadview Fire Department has reportedly called for the removal of the fence, which activists say was erected illegally to block access.
Amiwala criticized ICE’s tactics, accusing the agency of targeting minorities and political opponents. “They separate families, terrorize our neighborhoods and inflict violence upon peaceful protesters,” she said. “It’s up to us to show ICE that we cannot be intimidated into silence by their authoritarian tactics.”
Despite the confrontation, protesters continued their demonstration into the afternoon, vowing to keep pressing for detainee rights and accountability.
Bushra Amiwala Hit with Pepper Bullets During Protest Outside Broadview ICE Facility
