Did ice agents shoot a pastor with pepperballs in October
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Executive Summary
A review of the available reporting shows that multiple incidents involving clergy struck by pepper rounds at protests with federal agents occurred in September and October 2025, but the claim as posed—“Did ICE agents shoot a pastor with pepperballs in October”—is partly true and partly imprecise: a widely circulated case involving Reverend David Black was recorded on September 19, 2025, while a separate incident involving Reverend Jorge Bautista was reported on October 24, 2025 in California, and other clergy at Broadview were reported hit in mid-October [1] [2] [3]. The different dates, locations, and named individuals explain the apparent conflict in accounts and underline the need to distinguish between which pastor, which date, and which agency in any specific claim [4] [5].
1. Why the dates conflict — one striking video is from September, not October
Video evidence and contemporaneous reporting identify a prominent case in which Rev. David Black was struck by a pepper ball while praying outside the Broadview, Illinois ICE facility on September 19, 2025; outlets documenting the video and subsequent lawsuit emphasize that the incident occurred in September and not October, and that the event spurred legal action alleging First and Fourth Amendment violations [1] [5]. Some summaries and later write-ups have misstated or generalized the timing, creating confusion; several summaries repeat “October” despite the primary incident and its video being dated mid-September, which is corroborated by multiple reports and the video timestamp evidence referenced in those accounts [4] [1].
2. A separate October incident in California involved a different pastor
Reporting from Newsweek and related outlets documents a distinct episode on October 24, 2025, in Alameda, California, where Rev. Jorge Bautista was struck in the face by what appeared to be a pepper round during clashes near a federal facility, and he accused a federal agent of intentionally targeting him [2]. This incident is geographically and temporally separate from the Broadview encounter; it involved federal agents in a West Coast protest and is presented in the sources as an independent event, which helps explain why claims about “a pastor shot in October” have factual grounding when tied to Bautista but are inaccurate if referring to the Broadview encounter involving Black [2].
3. Broader pattern: clergy hit at Broadview and national tensions
Beyond the Black and Bautista cases, reporting notes that other clergy at the Broadview ICE facility were struck across multiple dates, including accounts that United Church of Rogers Park Pastor Hannah Kardon was hit while wearing a clerical collar and praying on October 17, 2025 [3]. Journalistic coverage frames these episodes within a larger pattern of confrontations between demonstrators and federal agents around detention sites, and connects them to wider concerns about crowd-control munitions, their safety warnings, and administrative defenses of agent conduct — for example, DHS officials defended some actions while protesters and clergy alleged excessive force [6] [5].
4. Disputes over responsibility, intent, and context
Sources document competing narratives: protesters and affected clergy describe being peaceful and targeted while praying, while Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement officials say agents faced obstruction and projectiles from demonstrators and deny intentional targeting [5]. The manufacturer’s safety guidance on pepper-ball projectiles is cited in reporting to note risks when such munitions strike sensitive body areas, and this technical context factors into legal and public debates about the appropriateness of their use and whether actions constituted unreasonable force [1] [4].
5. What to take away — specifics matter for accuracy and accountability
The factual bottom line is that clergy were struck by pepper rounds on multiple occasions in Fall 2025, but attributing a specific October shooting to ICE requires precision: Rev. David Black’s video-documented strike occurred on September 19, 2025 at Broadview, while a separate October 24 incident injured Rev. Jorge Bautista in California; other clergy at Broadview reported hits in mid-October [1] [2] [3]. Accurate public and legal assessment depends on distinguishing the incident, date, location, and responsible federal unit in each case, and the record shows both verified video evidence and contested official explanations that will shape ongoing lawsuits and inquiries [5] [1].