Federal officers enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown have unleashed a barrage of “less lethal” weapons on protesters, battering bodies with rubber bullets, searing eyes with pepper spray, and lobbing tear gas and explosive flash-bangs into chanting crowds. In cities across the country, these masked agents, equipped with military-grade armor and rifles, have smashed car windows, shoved people to the ground, rammed vehicles, and pointed guns at those they perceive as obstacles, resulting in hundreds of injuries and at least 13 people shot with live ammunition.
While gunfire remains rare, the predominant use of these harsh tactics has inflicted grievous harm, with courts in at least four states ruling that officers employed force inappropriately and indiscriminately. An NBC News review of dozens of incidents since the spring uncovered repeated violations of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies and general policing guidelines by immigration officers, who deployed such weapons unless they believed their lives were in immediate danger. The analysis drew from interviews with injured lawyers, experts, and protesters, as well as witness statements, documents from criminal and civil cases, and protest videos.
The reporting exposes a vicious cycle of escalation: Heavily armed DHS raids in open-air settings provoked angry residents to confront officers directly in the streets. Instead of de-escalating, agents abruptly resorted to physical or chemical force, applying these measures with little discretion whether protests were peaceful or violent, large or small.
“I’ve never seen federal agents so out of control and acting in such a malicious manner,” said Rubén Castillo, a former federal prosecutor and federal judge who now leads the Illinois Accountability Commission, a state initiative reviewing allegations of abuse against immigration officers. “They said they were going after ‘the worst of the worst,’ then they became the problem.”
This pattern of conduct has ignited public outrage, drawn backlash from local officials, and compelled judicial intervention. For months, the Trump administration has doubled down, resisting court orders and fostering an atmosphere of ruthlessness and impunity that encourages officers to employ whatever tactics they deem necessary.
Government officials have staunchly defended the officers’ actions as essential and justified, even while providing misleading or false accounts of certain clashes. The aggressive deployment of “less lethal” weapons underscores the tensions between federal immigration enforcement and community resistance, leaving a trail of broken bones, burning eyes, and eroded trust in its wake.
