A Palatine police officer told a crowd gathering around an immigration arrest to back up. As people watched, the officer knelt down and secured the hand of a man agents were in the process of detaining, according to body camera video obtained by the Tribune.
The video, released Tuesday through a Freedom of Information Act request, sheds new light on the controversial detention that unfolded last month in a parking lot in the northwest suburb. The incident prompted civilians to question whether the officer’s conduct violated the Illinois TRUST Act during a protest outside police headquarters.
The TRUST Act, passed in 2017, prohibits local law enforcement from participating in civil immigration enforcement but allows them to maintain order. Village officials described the officer’s actions as a split-second decision meant to “stabilize” the situation.
The officer’s body camera footage shows him saying, “I got this hand, you get the other one,” as he joined three agents who were arresting the man. At his direction, the crowd stepped backward.
Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz referred requests for comment to a statement from Police Chief William Nord made at a village meeting last week. Nord said the officer had followed state law and was concerned for both the safety of the man being detained and the federal agents and civilians at the scene.
“One of the agents had been restraining the man by his neck,” Nord said. “If (the officer) did not step in and expedite the arrest, this could have turned into a much worse situation.”
Nord’s statement continued: “He believed he had to act immediately to help expedite the encounter and get the agents off of the individual.”
The body camera footage does not appear to show people interfering in the arrest, although about a dozen people on the scene were shouting and filming. This arrest was one of thousands of immigrants without legal status detained around Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz.
Since the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown began, frequent clashes have occurred between immigration enforcement agents and community members. Local police agencies have drawn a clear distinction between aiding in immigration arrests and ensuring public safety.
According to a fact sheet from the Illinois attorney general’s office, the TRUST Act does not prevent law enforcement from “taking action to maintain peace and ensure public safety within their jurisdiction.”
In practice, local police have routinely responded to federal enforcement actions. They have directed traffic, acted as a buffer between residents and federal agents, and maintained order at tense public demonstrations—which have been nearly daily since federal enforcement intensified in September.
In Broadview, Illinois State Police and the Cook County sheriff’s office have taken over law enforcement outside a federal processing center in the western suburb after federal agents used significant chemical crowd control on protesters attempting to impede their movements.
In Chicago, officers forming skirmish lines between neighbors and agents have been hit with tear gas and dodged flash-bangs alongside residents, as agents responded to objects thrown at them before leaving the scene.
All local law enforcement officers in Illinois are barred from participating in federal immigration enforcement. However, the Palatine video highlights the thin line between keeping the peace and assisting in civil immigration enforcement.
Just before noon on October 27, the officer arrived at a parking lot at 1180 E. Dundee Road, where about a dozen people were yelling and filming as three federal agents tried to handcuff a man lying face down on the ground.
The video shows five or six people walking toward the agents as the officer approached. He then instructed the crowd to retreat.
“Hey, hey, back up,” the officer said as people continued shouting at the agents.
“Are you guys with DHS?” someone asked.
“Yes we are, tell them to back up!” an agent yelled in response.
As the officer put on black gloves, he continued to tell the crowd to back up: “I understand. Let them do their job,” giving instructions in both English and Spanish.
Although the crowd was still yelling, they appeared to heed his instructions and moved back.
The officer then walked toward the arrest, asking the agents, “Do you want me to help you or do you got it?”
According to the after-action report, the officer became frustrated as the agents tried to handcuff the man, who was “becoming increasingly distressed and out of breath.” The officer decided to take the man’s other arm, saying on his body camera, “Let me get this hand.”
Shortly afterward, a bystander asked a question. In Spanish, the officer responded: “The Palatine police have nothing to do with the situation.” He also asked the immigration agents for a business card.
“I don’t have a card but I’m glad to give you my name and badge number,” an agent replied.
The body camera also captures other Palatine officers talking to civilians at the scene. Once the arrest was complete and the agents had left the parking lot, one officer explained the position local departments like his had to take when federal agents made arrests.
“We don’t assist or interfere,” he said. “That’s, like, a state law.”
The police report, obtained via Freedom of Information request, described the crowd as growing “larger and noticeably agitated as they were encroaching upon the agents and yelling insults at them.” The officer expressed concern about the “potential of dangerous escalation for all individuals involved.”
A November 2 after-action report by Deputy Chief Brian Growney, also obtained through FOIA, states the officer arrived to see a car with a smashed window. The report noted agents had used pepper spray shortly before the officer’s arrival.
According to the report, the agents appeared “exhausted” and were lying on top of the man they were trying to arrest.
“The officers did not appear to know what they were doing and/or were not trained in proper police handcuffing or defensive tactics,” the report stated, describing the scene as “stressful, tense and rapidly devolving.”
The eight-page after-action report dedicates three pages to discussing whether the officer complied with the TRUST Act.
“(The officer) was not called upon for assistance by ICE, nor was this a pre-planned cooperative situation,” Growney wrote. “This was a spontaneous and volatile event that did not afford (the officer) the luxury to plan and carefully calculate his response.”
The report concludes: “I do not believe there was a better or more just action that (the officer) could have done in this situation.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/11/palatine-immigration-arrest-body-camera/
