King Don makes a show of claiming to fight for religious freedom, but his goons in Chicago are beating up pastors:
My first time encountering [U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gergory] Bovino in person was on Oct. 3 at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview, Ill., where he marched out at the head of a column of ICE and ATF agents preparing to disperse a group of protesters. I knew I was in for a spectacle. What I wasn’t expecting was to be physically assaulted by ICE agents and the Illinois State Police while peacefully protesting in my clerical collar.
As soon as Bovino stepped out of that gate, the atmosphere changed. We had gathered on the side of a road on an established line. Illinois State Police had allowed us to be on this private property for hours with no issues, but Bovino strode toward a line of protesters and told us that this was our “final warning.” After that, agents descended on the crowd. Illinois State Police pushed me with truncheons, an ICE agent grabbed my neck, and even twisted my nipple as hard as he could.
…I’m far from the only pastor to be assaulted by ICE. Rev. David Black was shot with a pepper ball gun in the face for daring to protest against this concentration camp that exists in our backyard, and other pastors have been thrown to the ground and struck for participating in protests [Rev. Michael Woolf, “I’m One of the Clergy ICE Assaulted. They Treat Immigrants Worse,” Sojourners, 2025.11.04].
And the fascist regime wants us to see its vicious cruelty toward American citizens:
It seemed as though protesters were being treated cruelly, all for a photo op. When we were pushed back from the line we had occupied for hours, ICE agents then climbed aboard a BearCat vehicle, briefly rolled toward us, and then got off. Later, I saw the video of this manufactured scene circulating on social media among right wing influencers. I also noticed that Fox News cameras were seemingly allowed unimpeded access to the street to film what was happening to us. It felt like we were cleared from the area just so that there would be footage of protesters being brutalized. It was like the set of a movie—except it was real life, and our constitutional rights were violated [Woolf, 2025.11.04].
Brown workers, white pastors, pregnant women—the ruling kleptothugs will brutalize anyone they want, for cameras and for kicks. Don’t be surprised when the masked marauders come for you, without a warrant and without any moral or constitutional restraint.