Outside the Beltway

In Front of Our Noses: Zip-Tying Citizens Just in Case

The Feds raid an apartment building in Chicago.

Steven L. Taylor · Saturday, October 4, 2025 · 3 comments

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.

For previous entries, click here.

This story is a perfect example of why I have this series. The events described below happened a few days ago, and I did not initially see the reports. Two separate podcasts I listened to, running errands/cutting my grass yesterday (DSR’s Words Matter and Straight, White, American Jesus), both noted them and brought it to my attention.

Via ABC7 in Chicago: ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

Residents and neighbors are speaking out at what they call a traumatic event.

Wednesday morning, DHS officials said in a statement, “”In the early morning hours of September 30, 2025, allied federal law enforcement agencies with CBP, FBI, and ATF, executed an enforcement operation in Chicago’s South Shore area, a location known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates. Some of the targeted subjects are believed to be involved in drug trafficking and distribution, weapons crimes, and immigration violators.”

DHS said 37 people were arrested.

ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later.

“They just treated us like we were nothing,” Fisher said.

Here’s the local CBS affiliate’s video report:

And this from MSNBC, which has some of the same info, but with a dramatic coda.

Back to the ABC7 write-up.

Neighbors like Eboni Watson say they ducked for cover as they heard several flash bangs.

“They was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other,” Watson said. “That’s all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where’s the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, ‘f*** them kids.'”

[…]

“They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van,” Sanders said.

The FBI confirmed on Tuesday morning that they were helping U.S. Border Patrol carry out a targeted immigration enforcement operation in the area, adding that they have been supporting these efforts at the U.S. attorney general’s direction.

I see nothing that warrants this kind of action. Terrorizing the residents of an apartment building is not worth these arrests. Detaining American citizens, including children, for hours like this is not acceptable.

Border Patrol Commander-At-Large Gregory Bovino, with his officers, spoke on the ground in an exclusive interview with News Nation.

“How about you live in the apartment next-door to the Tren de Aragua members that are trafficking prostitution, guns, drugs and taking advantage of American citizens in a violent way,” Bovino said.

I would note that in the whole clip (available via the NewsNation link below), continues the quote above with, “Why don’t you live next to them and then see how much of a Gestapo or a Nazi we are.”

Here’s an idea: if you have suspects, just arrest them when they leave the building or, if it is really necessary, break into their apartments. Detaining innocent citizens for hours in the middle of the night shouldn’t be happening. Indeed, it appears that the residents of the building suffered a whole lot more trauma and harm from law enforcement than from the alleged criminals.

How is any of this describable as anything other than fascistic? Let’s ask the people who were detained and whose apartments were ransacked about “how much of a Gestapo or a Nazi” they consider the agents who detained them and raided their homes. The smug self-satisfaction of people like Bovino is maddening, to put it mildly.

More from The Chicago Book Club: South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: ‘It Looks Like Hell’.

Also, NewsNation was brought along to the raid: Suspected Tren de Aragua members arrested in Chicago operation, which confirms 300 federal officers and the usage of Blackhawk helicopters