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They Laughed While Shooting”: Minister Claims ICE Agents Fired Pepper Balls at Him During Peaceful Demonstration

What began as a peaceful vigil quickly escalated into a moment the nation will struggle to forget.

Outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, faith leaders and community members gathered in prayer and protest.

Among them stood Reverend David Black, a Presbyterian pastor from Chicago, kneeling in clerical garb with arms stretched skyward. Suddenly, the sanctity of that moment was shattered by a single, explosive act of force.

In the aftermath, Black would say it felt like he was struck not just in body, but in the heart of what it means to speak, to worship, and to dissent.

A Prayer Interrupted Under Fire

The video is haunting: agents on a rooftop open fire with pepper-ball launchers. A puff of white bursts against Black’s head and he crumples to the ground. Nearby protesters rush in to aid him. Some fall backward, others shield their faces. The air fills with cries — not just of pain, but of disbelief.

Black later told reporters that he and others heard laughter from the rooftop even as munitions flew. “They were chuckling between shots,” he said in his first televised interview since the event. “It showed how casually they operate. With little restraint.”

Two Contrasting Narratives

DHS officials offer a different view. The Department of Homeland Security claims protesters had blocked ICE vehicles and escalated the tension by throwing rocks, bottles, and fireworks. Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary, accused Black of flipping off agents days earlier — a claim he vehemently denies. She framed the show of force as a response to obstruction and lawlessness. 

Black rejects the narrative outright. He maintains he was standing to the side, praying aloud — not interfering with operations — and that no warning preceded the attack. “To say I was the aggressor is absurd,” he argued. 

When Protests Become Policy

The repercussions were swift. A federal judge in Illinois issued a temporary restraining order limiting the use of riot-control weapons and restricting force against protesters, clergy, and journalists near the Broadview ICE facility. 

 The ruling also forbade arrests of peaceful demonstrators and mandated visible identification for federal agents operating in the area. 

In parallel, Black joined a sweeping lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s tactics. The plaintiffs — a coalition of clergy, media organizations, and demonstrators — argue that federal agents violated First and Fourth Amendment rights by using excessive force and intimidating peaceful protest. 

Conclusion: A Moment That Demands Witness

This was not merely a confrontation between law enforcement and protesters. It was a collision between prayer and power, between sacred purpose and unchecked force. A pastor who was praying — not shouting, not blocking, not inciting — found himself struck in the name of control.

The video, the legal filings, the judge’s order — they are all markers in a larger question: How do we protect the right to dissent, worship, and bear witness if those in power can fire upon our voices?

That night, Black’s kneeling prayer became more than personal devotion. It became a testimony: that even under assault, faith demands presence; and when a man of cloth is met with violence, the moral question is not why he was there, but why they shot him.

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