Reporter Claims ICE Agents Fired at Her Direction

A criminal investigation is underway in a Chicago suburb after a CBS News reporter alleged that a federal agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fired a projectile at her vehicle Sunday morning, striking it and engulfing the cab in chemical irritants.

The incident has sparked a local police investigation and raises serious questions about the use of force against members of the press.

Asal Rezaei, a reporter for CBS News Chicago, was driving near the ICE detention facility in Broadview when the incident occurred. According to Rezaei, she was alone and there were no protests or civil disturbances in the area. In a police report, she stated she was driving her truck with the driver's side window down to observe if there was any activity at the facility's entrance before planning to leave.

That's when she claims a masked ICE agent, positioned approximately 50 feet away inside the fenced perimeter, saw her and fired a pepper ball. The projectile struck the driver's side of her truck.

"The chemical agents engulfed the inside of her truck," the report notes. Rezaei described the aftermath, stating the pepper ball left a white powder on her windshield and that her face had "been on fire for at least the last 10 minutes or so." She also reported vomiting after exiting the vehicle due to the chemical exposure.

In her statement, Rezaei expressed confusion over the agent's actions. "At this moment it's not really clear why that officer took a shot at me," she said. "My car has been here several times, although I did not identify myself verbally as a member of the press. There were no protests going on. There was actually nobody there except one other person that was a member of a fire department that was there checking in on the buildings."

The Broadview Police Department has responded forcefully, launching its own criminal probe into the matter.

"The Village of Broadview Police Department has launched a criminal investigation into an allegedly unprovoked attack on a CBS Chicago TV news reporter's vehicle by a chemical munition fired from the direction of U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility," Police Chief Thomas Mills said in a statement. He confirmed Rezaei declined medical attention and added, "The Broadview Police Department expects the full cooperation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into our criminal investigation."

As of Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not responded to requests for comment from CBS News.