An Illinois judge is demanding an explanation from the Trump administration because he doubts its guidelines will be followed by police officers deployed during protests in Chicago.
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“I have serious concerns about the execution of my order,” Judge Sarah Ellis said during a last-minute hearing called Thursday, CNN reported.
Last week, Ellis issued an order prohibiting law enforcement from harassing journalists who do not interfere with their work and from using tear gas and less-lethal munitions against protesters who do not pose an “imminent threat.”
The decision followed a lawsuit filed by demonstrators and journalists who, among other things, alleged that they were fired at with pepper projectiles.
The judge said Thursday she was “surprised” by what she saw after the ruling.
“I receive and see images, information in newspapers, read reports […] and I have serious concerns about the implementation of my order,” she said.
“You can’t shoot them in the head with (pepper rounds),” Ellis said. You cannot use tear gas. You cannot use flashbangs. It’s impossible to drive a car through a crowd.”
She therefore requested that the Director of Field Operations appear in court next Monday.
“Please explain to me why I am seeing images of tear gas being used and reading reports that there was no warning.”
“I'm furious. I'm really not happy,” the judge said in an exasperated tone.
New instructions
At the same time, the one appointed by the Obama administration expanded its order by announcing new instructions.
“I would add that all officers involved in Operation Midway Blitz must wear body cameras and they must be turned on.”
Trump administration spokesman Sean Skedzielewski quickly said the directive was logistically impossible to implement immediately.
The magistrate was conciliatory about this remark, CNN indicates.
During the hearing, Skedzielewski also suggested that media coverage of recent events may have been misleading and that the judge was relying on “one-sided and selectively edited media reports.”
The latter replied that it was for this reason that she wanted to receive a version from the director of operations on Monday.
