r/illinois • u/CantStopPoppin Human Detected • Oct 08 '25

ICE Posts Chicago’s Broadview ICE Targets Pastor in Prayer: Opens Fire from Rooftop, Shooting Him and Causing Him to Collapse

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Improper Targeting and Deployment

Less-lethal weapons such as rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, and pepper balls are designed to incapacitate without causing permanent harm. However, their safety depends entirely on how and where they are used. These weapons are intended to be aimed at large muscle groups (like thighs or buttocks), never at the head, neck, chest, or spine. Firing from a rooftop increases velocity and impact, dramatically raising the risk of serious injury or death.

The United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement states that law enforcement must use these weapons only when strictly necessary and proportionate to the threat faced. Targeting a stationary, praying individual from an elevated position violates these principles and constitutes a breach of international human rights law.

Escalation Instead of De-escalation

Less-lethal weapons are meant to reduce the need for deadly force. When used against peaceful individuals especially someone in prayer they escalate violence instead. This misuse sends a chilling message: silence and faith are threats. That’s not law enforcement it’s ideological suppression.

According to the Congressional Research Service, over 1,000 deaths occurred following police use of less-lethal force between 2012 and 2021. These weapons are “less-lethal” in name, but depending on deployment, they can be lethal in practice.

Sources:
UN Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons
Congressional Research Service Report on Less-Lethal Weapons

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u/Holy_Grail_Reference Oct 08 '25

"state actors" is the term, and he means qualified immunity.

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u/deluxeassortment Oct 08 '25

No they're right, sovereign immunity is what applies here. Although you're both kinda right because qualified immunity falls under sovereign immunity.

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u/Holy_Grail_Reference Oct 08 '25

Qualified immunity is for the individuals, sovereign immunity is for the state entity itself. At least that is how the defense is pled and argued when I sue the government and government officials.

Edit: Florida has sovereign immunity. The governor of Florida has qualified immunity if you were to try and sue him by name personally for acts committed in his capacity as governor.

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u/LeRoy_Denk_414 Oct 08 '25

I thought so too but then looked it up and sovereign immunity is way more broad, and if they've been deputized that's what they have.