Elgin Mayor David Kaptain sharply criticized federal immigration agents who used tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang grenades on protesters who gathered outside an apartment complex during a lengthy standoff Saturday morning.
“It discourages me. It disgusts me,” Kaptain said in a video posted late Saturday on city social media accounts.
“This city was founded on its diversity and self respect and the mutual respect between our residents,” he continued. “ICE people have not shown that respect to this community, and that really angers me.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson could not be reached for comment Sunday.
The protests began at about 10 a.m. on the 1600 block of Maple Lane as federal agents pursued a man into an apartment complex. Agents could be seen escorting the man from the complex around 3 p.m.
Agents deployed tear gas, pepper spray and other nonlethal munitions against the crowd. Kaptain issued a call for the community to come together in the wake of Saturday’s events. “We will work our way through this problem,” he said. “We’ll develop and continue to have respect for each other. As this problem resolves itself, as I’m certain it will, as we have many times in the past, the community has worked together to make us a better city, and this will be a better city when we’re finished, when this whole travesty that’s going on in this country is resolved.”
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