A U.S. citizen was injured and left bloodied on the side of a road in Evanston, Illinois, after federal immigration agents mistakenly identified him as a fugitive they were trying to arrest, according to local police and witnesses.

The incident happened Sunday morning in Evanston, about 12 miles north of downtown Chicago. The man, whose identity was not released, was taken to a hospital by ambulance after the confrontation. Police said he reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth.

According to the Evanston Police Department, a federal agent told responding officers that five immigration agents traveling in separate vehicles were searching for a fugitive with a Chicago address and an arrest warrant. The agents reportedly mistook the man for the person they were seeking.

The federal agent told police that the man refused to provide identification, after which the agents attempted to handcuff him. They later realized he was a U.S. citizen and released him.

One police officer observed blood on the federal agent’s hands. The agent told police he had been injured while attempting to handcuff the man and said the agents left the area because they feared protesters who had gathered nearby might attack them.

Police later visited the injured man at the hospital and photographed his injuries. The Evanston Police Department said it was continuing to investigate the encounter.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said the man was treated at St. Francis Hospital for minor injuries. He said the police department would continue investigating the incident and monitoring federal immigration enforcement activity in the city.

The Department of Homeland Security said the ICE officers had encountered someone who resembled the target of a “targeted enforcement operation.” The department said the individual had been given what it described as lawful commands but refused to identify himself.

According to DHS, the agents left after the man identified himself and offered him assistance, which the department said he declined.

The confrontation has drawn criticism from Illinois officials as controversy surrounding federal immigration enforcement continues to grow.

Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky said she was “disgusted and outraged” by reports of the incident in Evanston, her hometown.

Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press provided a different account of the encounter.

Ryan Garton, 56, said he saw federal agents pinning the man, who was Black, to the ground while he was driving home. Garton stopped to record what was happening and said one agent had a knee on the man’s back and was striking him.

Garton said the man repeatedly identified himself as a U.S. citizen and that several people nearby shouted at the agent to stop.

According to Garton, he asked the agent to move away so he could check the man’s injuries. Garton said the agent acknowledged that he already knew the man was a U.S. citizen.

When the agent stepped away, Garton said he saw bloodstains resembling handprints on the man’s shirt. He described swelling around the man’s right eye and temple and scrapes on his face.

The man told Garton that he had been walking to a pharmacy to collect a prescription when the immigration agents stopped him.

Michael Lipson, who owns a store across the street, also said he saw agents wrestle the man to the ground while he repeatedly said he was a U.S. citizen. Lipson said the man’s face appeared badly injured.

Lipson said agents searched the man’s wallet and examined identification cards and other documents before leaving them scattered on the road. He and Garton then helped the man and gave him a sweatshirt to rest on while his injuries were examined.

The Evanston confrontation occurred on the same day that an ICE agent shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, adding to scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement operations under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The AP reported that at least 10 people had died in encounters with immigration agents during Trump’s second term, including several people killed or seriously injured in separate incidents involving federal immigration enforcement.

The investigation in Evanston remains ongoing, with local authorities examining what happened during the encounter and the circumstances surrounding the man’s injuries.

SOURCE: Associated Press, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, updated September 25, 2026.