Photojournalist targeted with pepper balls while covering Illinois ICE protest

Photojournalist Jon Stegenga said he was targeted with projectiles fired by a federal officer while covering a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, 2025.

Stegenga, co-founder of the independent outlet Humanizing Through Story, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting one of a series of demonstrations outside the facility, where detainees are held and processed ahead of deportation.

At one point, protesters blocked a roadway leading away from the facility. Federal agents in tactical gear then advanced, firing various crowd-control munitions, stopping traffic during a chaotic dispersal.

Stegenga found himself standing alone in the middle of the road, clearly marked as press, with visible credentials. As he continued photographing, a federal agent — about four car lengths away — began firing directly at him.

“The agent turned and shot once right below the belt on the upper thigh,” he said. “He turned at other people, and then turned back at me and shot me again, once in the leg and once in the back.”

One pepper ball burst on impact, scattering white powder across his shirt.

Though many of the agents wore insignia from ICE, U.S. Border Patrol or other federal units, Stegenga said it was difficult to determine exactly which agency was responsible.

He said he later noticed a scratch on one of his camera lenses and that his camera was displaying intermittent error messages, but was unsure what caused the damage or when.

Earlier the same day, he was hit by stray munitions and chemical irritants during broader crowd control actions. He also witnessed and photographed another journalist, Leigh Kunkel, get shot in the face with a munition.

The following day, while covering a similar protest outside the facility, Stegenga lost a telephoto lens that he stored near his van by a security barricade. He told the Tracker the gear was missing when he returned after being forced away by federal agents.

The experiences prompted Stegenga to invest in better safety gear, but he remains committed to reporting despite the risks.

“I’ve tried to let it affect me as little as possible,” he said. “Still showing up, going up to the fence lines, documenting, being in the midst of everything.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a Tracker request for comment. In a press release on Sept. 26, DHS described the demonstrators as “rioters,” some of whom were reportedly chanting “shoot ICE.”

“These violent threats and smears about ICE must stop,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She also called on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to “condemn these riots and tone down their rhetoric about ICE.”

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson sent a letter to DHS, Block Club Chicago reported, accusing ICE officials of “making war” on her community. Thompson asked that the agency stop “deploying chemical arms such as tear gas, pepper spray, etc. against American citizens, our residents, and our first responders.”

According to a Sept. 27 news release, the village of Broadview said that in retaliation for Thompson’s letter, “ICE agents this morning informed the Broadview Police Department that there will be ‘a sh*t show’ in Broadview today.”

Indeed, federal officers responded to protests with chemical irritants and crowd-control munitions that day — affecting multiple journalists — and later arrested a reporter.