In his first sit-down chat, Rev. David Black opened up to CNN about clashing with ICE agents during a demonstration in Illinois. A Presbyterian minister from Chicago, Rev. David Black, got caught on camera last month getting hit in the head by a pepper ball fired by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while protesting outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. He says the officers were actually chuckling as they took shots from the rooftop.
“We could hear them laughing while they were firing at us, and it was really unsettling,” Black told CNN this week. “It gave us a glimpse into how these ICE folks operate right out in the open—disorganized, poorly supervised, and not well-trained at all.”
The video that’s been circulating online shows Black in his clerical collar, dropping to the ground after the impact, with fellow protesters rushing to help him.
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, pushed back, saying the protesters were blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving and disrupting things. She claimed people were hurling rocks, bottles, and even fireworks at the agents up top.
“Blocking law enforcement endangers officers, detainees, and everyone else. If you’re in the way, expect to face some force,” McLaughlin stated in a release shared with PEOPLE on October 10.
She also took a jab on social media, noting, “By the way, this is the same ‘pastor’ who gave the finger to @Sec_Noem and our team when we visited last week.”
Black flat-out denied those claims on CNN, calling them “completely untrue.”
“No ICE vehicles were trying to exit the place,” he said. “I was off to the side, hands in prayer, saying a prayer out loud for the officers and the people locked up inside.”
He added with a bit of wit, “It’s funny she thinks I flipped them off, because in my faith, I’ve been praying for the Holy Spirit to touch these folks and change their hearts. And since the Holy Spirit’s often shown as a dove, maybe there’s some divine truth in what she said.”
Black also mentioned he got no heads-up before the pepper spray came after the initial hit.
“They nailed me in the head, face, and all over my body—torso, arms, legs,” he recounted. “Others jumped in to shield me and took hits meant for me. Then they led me away where a street medic flushed my eyes and tried to keep me out of harm’s way. I was totally out of it by then.”
He went on to say around 15 to 20 ICE agents pushed him and other peaceful protesters who were just standing there, talking, singing, and chanting.
This all comes amid the Trump administration’s push to send National Guard troops to the Chicago area, something Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is fighting against.
On October 10, a judge put a hold on that deployment for at least two weeks, per the Associated Press, saying there’s no real proof of any “rebellion” brewing in the state.
Black’s also part of a lawsuit with journalists and other protesters against the Trump admin, alleging breaches of the First and Fourth Amendments, as reported by the National Catholic Reporter.
“I’m thankful to stand with these folks who truly care about democracy and are making a peaceful, moral stand against what the Trump administration’s up to in Chicago,” Black told CNN.