11/10/2025
Chicago Reporter Arrested After Assault on Law Enforcement.
CHICAGO, Ill. — Friends Community News Group, October 11, 2025, 3 pm ET - A Chicago news reporter was arrested this week after authorities said she hurled objects, including a metal water bottle, at US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Law Enforcement was conducting lawful arrests on Chicago’s Southwest Side when
Rachel Vega, 32, a local reporter, covering a scheduled ICE operation near Archer Avenue, allegedly broke every journalist's rule by interjecting herself into obstructing officers conducting lawful arrests.
Witnesses say she began shouting at agents, then threw a metal water bottle and debris toward officers as they escorted two suspects into custody. No Law Enforcement officers were injured, but the incident immediately escalated.
“This was not journalism — it was a criminal act,” said ICE spokesperson James Hartwell. “Our agents are sworn to uphold U.S. law and protect the public. Assaulting them is a felony, plain and simple.”
Per the Chicago Police Department, Vega was arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer and obstruction of justice, both serious offenses that can carry prison time. She was booked into the Cook County Jail and later released pending a federal hearing.
Law Enforcement, along with their unions and advocacy groups, immediately condemned the attack.
“We’ve reached a point where some people think attacking police is a form of protest,” said Officer Mark Rivera, president of the Illinois Police Federation. “That’s not free speech. That’s violence — and it’s putting good men and women in uniform in danger every day.”
Police officials state that their officers are frequently coming under attack just as ICE and US Border Agents.
The arrest comes amid a sharp rise in assaults on law enforcement nationwide. The FBI’s 2024 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Report recorded more than 12,000 assaults against officers in a single year, a 15% increase from the previous year.
In Chicago where Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that "jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness," police data shows that officers were assaulted over 1,700 times in 2024, many during protests or attempted arrests.
> “Every time a uniform is targeted — whether it’s ICE, Border Patrol, or local police — it weakens the rule of law,” said Sheriff Paul MacDonald of McHenry County, who has worked closely with ICE task forces. “These officers put their lives on the line daily. They deserve respect and protection, not violence.”
“We’re all for the First Amendment,” said ICE’s Hartwell. “But no one has the right to throw things at federal officers and call it reporting.”
By: Tom Manke
