Chicago Rioter With Suspected Antifa Ties Arrested for Carrying Loaded Gun to ICE Facility

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated on Oct. 11 that federal agents arrested a Chicago rioter for allegedly carrying a loaded firearm with “multiple rounds of ammunition” during protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, last month.

The DHS stated that the man, Elias Cepeda, was arrested at the scene on Sept. 26, and the weapon was confiscated. Cepeda, identified by the DHS as a journalist and “college professor at the University of Illinois,” is suspected of having ties to Antifa, according to the department.

President Donald Trump said in a Sept. 22 executive order that he was designating Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization [because of] a pattern of political violence designed to suppress lawful political activity and obstruct the rule of law.”

The DHS stated that Cepeda had previously posted content about Antifa on social media. He also made posts expressing violence toward ICE and referring to ICE officers as “Nazis,” the department noted.

“Elias Cepeda has suspected ties to the domestic terrorist organization ANTIFA and has a history of glorifying violence against—and the killing of—our brave law enforcement. Violent individuals like Cepeda are putting the public and our law enforcement’s lives in danger,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Thank God law enforcement intervened and arrested Cepeda before he could have potentially shot or killed anyone.”

It is unclear whether Cepeda has been assigned a legal representative. The Epoch Times was unable to reach Cepeda for comment.

Protests have been held near the ICE Broadview facility in recent days over federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, with protesters clashing with federal law enforcement.

Trump has sought to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago to assist in a crime crackdown, but has faced legal challenges. On Oct. 10, Judge April Perry of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago a temporary restraining order blocking deployment of the National Guard.

The Trump administration filed an appeal with the Seventh Circuit court, which ruled on Oct. 11 that National Guard troops could remain under federal control but declined to stay the lower court’s order.

About 500 troops from the Illinois and Texas National Guard had been called up to deploy in Chicago. Most of those troops have remained at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, Illinois, but a small contingent was sent to an ICE building in Broadview.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has opposed the troop deployment to Chicago.

“This continues to be a manufactured crisis focused on causing chaos and mayhem, with the aim of creating a pretext to deploy military troops against Chicago and its suburbs,” his office said in a Sept. 29 statement.

During a press conference on Sept. 29, the governor said federal agents used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and flashbangs against protesters exercising their First Amendment right in Broadview.

The White House has stated that Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard troops to Illinois to protect federal personnel and assets amid “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness” in the state.

Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.