Sara L. Ellis of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois was troubled that Border Patrol officials seemed to believe kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade posed an immediate threat to their safety and therefore deserved to have riot control weapons used against them.

They used tear gas in a neighborhood where children were about to march in a Halloween parade, Judge Ellis said. They failed to warn residents before tossing tear gas canisters at them, she said, noting an incident in which an agent threw a canister out of a car as it drove away.

The judge then ordered Mr. Bovino, who took the stand in his usual green fatigues and Border Patrol insignia, to appear at the federal courthouse at the end of every weekday to personally provide her with a report on the day’s arrests and incidents.

Ellis had previously issued an order barring federal immigration agents from deploying tear gas and other chemical agents on a crowd without first issuing two warnings or of “deploying these weapons above the head of the crowd” in most situations. Despite those orders, the Border Patrol continued to use tear gas, including in residential neighborhoods late last week and over the weekend.

Too many Americans give these agents a deference because they still live under the mistaken presumption that they are acting in our best interests, with honorable intentions. Increasingly, though, they are demonstrating that they are nothing more than roving thugs at war with nannies, dishwashers, tamale vendors, landscapers, roofers, and moms in line to pick up their children at school.

nytimes.com - Chicago bovino tear gas