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Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday he “can’t believe anything” that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says and suggested ICE officers were breaking the law.
Pritzker told the “Raging Moderates” podcast that he has encouraged prosecutors to investigate ICE activity in Chicago.
He claimed one example that needed to be investigated was a recent report of an armed woman being shot by ICE officers during a protest in Chicago.
According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, the woman, a U.S. citizen identified as Marimar Martinez, was accused of ramming into a law enforcement vehicle, blocking officers from moving. Pritzker claimed that ICE officers antagonized her.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump for deploying federal officers to Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Well, it now comes out her attorney says there is bodycam footage that shows that actually she was rammed by an ICE agent in their vehicle and that ICE agent started yelling at her, calling her the b- word and other things,” Pritzker said. “And right after that, there was this shooting that ensued. They claimed in their release from ICE that she was the aggressor and that she was pointing a gun or pulling out an automatic weapon.”
He continued, “So you can’t believe anything ICE is doing, and I believe that we can go after ICE and those agents when they are committing felonies or any kind of breach of the law in the state of Illinois.”
DHS TAKES ON PRITZKER’S ‘SMORGASBORD OF LIES,’ RELEASES LIST DEBUNKING HIS CLAIMS
Gov. JB Pritzker said a recent report of ICE agents shooting an armed woman will likely be investigated. (Dominic Gwinn/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment.
The DHS pointed to its original statement on the incident when reached for comment.
DHS also reported that Martinez allegedly doxxed agents and posted online, “Hey to all my gang let’s f— those motherf—–s up, don’t let them take anyone” prior to the protest. McLaughlin said no law enforcement officers were seriously injured during the incident, adding that the woman involved drove herself to the hospital to receive care.
Pritzker has frequently criticized President Donald Trump for deploying ICE officers to his state and doubled down on his attacks after learning about plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to several states, including Illinois.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy 400 Texas National Guard troops to Illinois and Oregon. (Getty Images)
He sued to stop Trump from deploying the troops, calling it part of “Trump’s invasion” to “punish his political enemies.”
During the podcast, Pritzker reiterated he also believed that the “militarizing” of U.S. cities is likely a pretext to take over polling places and intimidate voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
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“I do think though that that’s the intention, to have these kinds of troops or people that are dressed as troops like ICE and CBP, so that when the election comes, they can effectuate if they think they’re losing, or will lose, two things,” Pritzker said. “One is the intimidation of people going to the polls, and the other is, as Michael Flynn back in 2020 suggested, actually confiscating the ballot boxes claiming that there’s fraud and counting the ballots themselves.”