Johnson doubles down on defense of federal agents targeting clergy, protesters

WASHINGTON (CN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday again waved away concerns that federal law enforcement in Chicago, Portland and elsewhere have used too heavy a hand with unarmed protesters demonstrating against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

And the top House Republican rejected the idea that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeting clergy members at protests raised questions about religious freedom.

Johnson has long expressed support for the Homeland Security Department’s blitz against several U.S. cities, which has seen federal agents and National Guard troops descend on Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and elsewhere in the name of crime prevention and immigration enforcement.

The urban crackdown has produced images and videos of law enforcement using what some critics have said is excessive force against protesters, the media and bystanders. In Chicago, federal agents have deployed tear gas, pepper ball launchers and rubber bullets against demonstrators. In several instances, clips on social media have emerged of agents targeting faith leaders, including one of a Chicago pastor who was shot in the head with a pepper ball earlier this month.

Asked during a news conference Wednesday about federal agents’ conduct toward clergy in particular, Johnson said he had not “seen or heard” about any instances of faith leaders being targeted and rejected the idea that the Trump administration’s actions threatened religious freedom.

“Religious freedom does not extend you the right to get in the face of an ICE officer and assault them,” said Johnson, who before he was elected to Congress was an attorney for the Christian conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.

Chicago pastor David Black, who was shot in the head with a pepper ball outside the Broadview, Illinois, ICE detention facility, was targeted by federal agents standing on a rooftop. In a video that circulated online, Black can be seen gesturing toward the agents on the roof. There were no law enforcement officers nearby.

In another video from a protest in Oakland, California, an officer can be seen shooting another clergyman, Reverend Jorge Bautista, in the face with a pepper round. Before he was shot, Bautista had been standing still, holding a sign.

Clips of Black and Bautista garnered millions of views online, and the Homeland Security Department released a statement accusing Black of “obstructing law enforcement.”

Johnson on Tuesday claimed that he had seen a “measured approach” from federal agents who he said were under “tremendous strain and pressure” as they tried to enforce U.S. border laws.

“How would you like to do that job, if you had to put on the badge and do it when you know you have the media criticizing your every move and you have wild protesters in your face cursing at you, waving their finger in your face and sometimes pushing and assaulting you?” the House speaker asked. “Thank the Lord that there are people who are willing to do that difficult job.”

Johnson added that he was on the side of law enforcement and that anyone trying to “disrupt” the operations of federal agents should be “handled the right way.”

It’s not the first time the top House Republican has defended the actions of federal law enforcement cracking down on protesters across the country. Johnson earlier this month told Courthouse News that he hadn’t seen ICE or other federal agents “cross the line yet” and instead shifted focus onto demonstrators he framed as “radical leftist activists.”

Johnson also dismissed congressional oversight on the Homeland Security Department, saying that while there were House committees that could look into the issue it hadn’t yet risen to that level.

“I understand free speech … but you cannot assault law enforcement officers — that is a line that has to be maintained,” he said at the time.

Though the House’s lead lawmaker has rejected questions about excessive force from federal law enforcement, the courts have taken a different view. A federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday excoriated Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino for violating an order blocking agents from using tear gas or other riot control weapons against peaceful protesters or journalists.

The judge demanded that Bovino, who was himself filmed hurling a tear gas canister in violation of her order, wear a body camera and provide the court daily use-of-force reports.

Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Department last week reportedly removed the heads of several ICE field offices in a gambit to swap them out for senior Border Patrol officials. The move, which the agency has refused to confirm or deny, comes as Bovino and his Border Patrol have emerged as the public face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation.

Follow @BenjaminSWeiss