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A federal judge made a big statement last week when she ordered top U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino<\/a> into her downtown courtroom.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time to see if Bovino shows.<\/p>\n And if he does, how he explains his use of tear gas against protesters.<\/p>\n Bovino is due Tuesday morning in the Chicago courtroom of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who has been deluged with complaints that Bovino and other federal agents have violated her orders over the use of tear gas and other riot control <\/b>weapons across the city.<\/p>\n On the eve of Bovino\u2019s scheduled appearance, lawyers even asked Ellis to completely ban federal agents from using tear gas until the judge rules on their request for a preliminary injunction. Attorney Steve Art wrote that the Trump administration is \u201cplainly in contempt, and sanctions are warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomething must be done,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman on Monday did not confirm plans for Bovino to appear in Ellis\u2019 courtroom, <\/b>despite multiple requests from the Chicago Sun-Times.<\/p>\n Still, court officials said they were anticipating \u201clive testimony\u201d during the Tuesday hearing. And a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Friday that \u201cDHS can think of nobody better to correct Judge Ellis\u2019 deep misconceptions\u201d than Bovino.<\/p>\n Bovino might also have to explain the claim, made in a court filing over the weekend, that he complained about the judge to a news reporter. It said Bovino asked the reporter, \u201cdid Judge Ellis get hit in the head by a rock like I did this morning?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe she needs to see what that\u2019s like before she gives an order like that,\u201d Bovino added, according to the court filing.<\/p>\n Ellis will have multiple options if she\u2019s unhappy with Bovino, including a potential finding of contempt or other sanctions like banning tear gas. However, she wasn\u2019t so confrontational when questioning <\/b>two lower-ranking officials during a separate proceeding last week.<\/p>\n The judge\u2019s decision to summon Bovino<\/a> into her courtroom set the stage for this latest hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse over the feds\u2019 use of force during the aggressive deportation campaign known as \u201cOperation Midway Blitz.\u201d<\/p>\n The judge is presiding over a lawsuit about the feds\u2019 treatment of protesters amid the campaign. The lawsuit was brought by media organizations, including the Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Newspaper Guild, which represents journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times.<\/p>\n The case has already led to orders forbidding agents from using gas and other \u201criot control\u201d weapons without two warnings or against people who pose no immediate threat. The judge also ordered agents \u201ccurrently equipped and trained with body-worn cameras\u201d to activate them when participating in enforcement activity.<\/p>\n The Dirksen Federal Courthouse.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Ellis said early last week that the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers could spend two hours deposing Bovino under oath behind closed doors, limiting their questions to \u201chow\u201d federal officers are enforcing the law and whether they are violating people\u2019s constitutional rights. She said at the time that Bovino should not be asked \u201cwhy\u201d Chicago has been targeted for the immigration campaign.<\/p>\n But Thursday, Ellis more than doubled the time limits on Bovino\u2019s deposition, expanding it to five hours. She did so moments before attorneys in the case accused Bovino of violating one of her earlier orders by tossing tear gas into a crowd in Little Village<\/a> without justification.<\/p>\n One day later, she ordered the Trump administration to \u201cproduce Defendant Gregory Bovino, in person,\u201d for Tuesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Bovino participated Thursday in the deployment of \u201criot control measures\u201d after a crowd \u201cgrew more hostile\u201d and began throwing rocks and other objects at agents, \u201cincluding one that struck Chief Greg Bovino in the head.\u201d<\/p>\n She also said Border Patrol agents \u201crepeated multiple warnings\u201d to the crowd.<\/p>\n The plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers insist \u201cthe statement is a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe crowd in Little Village was peaceful at the moment Defendant Bovino started the conflict by launching canisters of tear gas into the assembled crowd, and \u2026 no warnings or dispersal orders were given before he did so,\u201d they wrote in a weekend court filing.<\/p>\n In additional filings Monday, the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers complained that agents deployed multiple canisters of tear gas without warning Friday in Lake View, and that they did so without wearing identifying numbers or badges as also required by Ellis\u2019 order.<\/p>\n