Chicago's top cop stands by his officers interactions with ICE during Midway Blitz

Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling is standing by his department’s actions during ramped-up immigration enforcement last year, telling residents his officers were “out there working to keep communities safe.”

Snelling joined the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability for a “special hearing” Thursday to discuss his department's interactions with federal immigration agents.

Dozens of people attended, some accusing Chicago police of illegally coordinating with immigration agents during President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign.

A similar meeting back in January also was packed, but this time around those attending heard responses from Snelling directly, leading to some tense moments in the crowd.

“Our officers showed up to keep down violence” Snelling said to a roar of boos from the audience.

“It's OK," Snelling responded. "This is the response that I expected. … It’s easy to blame CPD when you’re looking for somebody to blame.”

The meeting ended to chants of “CPD, KKK, I-C-E, they’re all the same" as well as multiple people being escorted out of the building.

Though Snelling stood firmly by his department, he told commissioners if officers were found to be violating Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance they would be held accountable.

The commission voted Thursday to recommend the city’s Office of the Inspector General conduct an audit of possible violations. It’s common for Chicago police to work closely with federal agencies on criminal investigations.

They used U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s facial recognition technology to identify the man accused of killing Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman. This week, they arrested a DePaul University student accused of spitting on an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent at O’Hare airport, though the charges have been dropped.

But state and city law prohibit Chicago police from assisting with federal immigration enforcement. Still, there were several incidents last year that raised questions about whether that line had been crossed.

Snelling has argued more education is needed around what these laws mean in practice.

“No one wrote the ordinance and the law with this type of immigration enforcement in mind,” Snelling said Thursday.

In June, Chicago police responded to a 911 call from an ICE worker requesting assistance with “crowd control,” during a civil immigration raid outside the agency’s South Loop office.

Advocates and some alderpersons clashed with federal agents after at least 10 people were arrested during routine immigration check-ins. Witnesses reported Chicago police appearing to “stand guard” for ICE vehicles and accompanying agents in and out of the building.

City Council members said body-worn camera footage indicated some level of coordination with the feds, but without further investigation, they couldn't determine if sanctuary policies were violated.

As of March, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has been put in charge of investigating officers accused of violating Chicago’s sanctuary laws.

Snelling’s department came under fire again last October when Chicago police responded to protests that followed a U.S. Border Patrol agent shooting Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park. A commander initially told officers to hold back, though in a press conference days later, Snelling argued Chicago police were there “throughout the entire event.”

“Miss Martinez was shot by federal agents. … When that occurred, our officers were there on the scene,” Snelling said Thursday. “There was civil unrest. Our officers were there to keep the crowd separated. You say we protected ICE? ICE needed no protection.”

Block Club Chicago reported that Snelling had refused to attend the Thursday meeting if experts on police reform and immigration were allowed to speak alongside him. Snelling has said that Block Club story is “incomplete,” and that when he agreed to join the commission there was “no plan to have a panel.”

“As the superintendent of police, I want to be there to make sure that I answer all of the questions that are coming in through CCPSA,” Snelling told WBEZ earlier Thursday. “if we have a panel up there that we haven't discussed and we don't know what the format is, the waters might get muddied.”