Dupage Policy Journal

Terry Newsome, president of the Illinois chapter of Parents Involved in Education and a Republican precinct committeeman in DuPage County, is sounding the alarm over what he describes as orchestrated violence tied to protests organized by the Wheaton-based Casa DuPage Workers Center in downtown Chicago.

Newsome witnessed what he called coordinated acts of vandalism and sabotage during Tuesday night’s demonstration—part of a nationwide response opposing ICE raids that have targeted “sanctuary cities” like Chicago. 

According to Newsome, Antifa members deliberately provoked violence, damaged property and used tactics to disperse and confuse police. He said the protest was quick to devolve into chaos. 

Demonstrators defaced public property and vandalizing vehicles while displaying anti-Israel street puppets and upside-down American flags in front of federal buildings.

At least 17 protesters were arrested amid widespread property damage, clashes with police, and a motorist driving through a crowd, injuring a 66-year-old woman.

Newsome shared video footage showing a masked individual vandalizing a Tesla. 

“He had some kind of knife in his hand—he’s scraping it—and then he went back into the crowd,” Newsome told DuPage Policy Journal. “Then he pulled a big rock out of his backpack and he threw it at the front windshield and caved it in. Then he came back out and put swastikas on the passenger door’s side doors.” 

The protest was nominally organized by Casa DuPage Workers Center and the Party for Socialism & Liberation. 

The Casa DuPage Workers Center, headquartered at 311 S. Naperville Road in Wheaton, was originally called Immigrant Solidarity DuPage.

Critics argue the group stokes division by portraying law enforcement and local officials as enemies.

Newsome said the protest, which began near Grant Park, quickly broke into smaller coordinated groups to overwhelm police resources.

“What they did is they divided multiple groups," Newsome said. "There was such a big crowd and it made it harder for the police. What it did was it thinned out the police that were there.” 

Protesters defaced CTA buses and police vehicles with graffiti including expletives "Fuc* ICE" and “Fuc* CPD” seen scrawled across government buildings.

“American flags that you see are upside down—the few that were there,” Newsome said. “Lots of Mexican flags and Palestinian flags, other ones I didn’t recognize. They were yelling disrespectful things about ICE, Trump, Nazis—all the same stuff heard from these leftists.”

Newsome also alleged that law enforcement was restrained from doing their jobs by city leadership. 

He said several officers told him they were operating under direct orders not to engage demonstrators—even when property damage occurred. 

“They were absolutely given directions to stand down,” Newsome said.  

Newsome expressed frustration with the Chicago Police Department's command structure and its handling of the protests.

“I am not implicating the Chicago police officers– t's the leadership,” Newsome said. “The guys I'm talking to, they're not happy and you could tell. One [police officer] said, ‘we were not even supposed to engage with them when they're yelling at us.’” 

Newsome and others contend that radical elements weaponized the protests to provoke law enforcement and escalate unrest. He also expressed deep skepticism about the current political climate and the motives behind the unrest. 

“I believe the Democrats are trying to start their second civil war,” Newsome said. “They have no policies to run off of. They don't have any good candidates. They have nothing to offer the country but division, and the only way they can distract from their incompetence is by starting another civil war and blaming it on Donald Trump and the Republicans—being racist or whatever they want to call it—against the illegal invasion of America. And they're getting what they want.”

A recent Quinnipiac poll shows disapproval of Democrats in Congress has risen to 70%, up from 68% in February, with only 21% approving of the party's performance. Meanwhile, Republicans also face criticism, with 61% disapproving of their performance, though Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of Republicans at 97%.

Meanwhile, a recent M3 Strategies poll revealed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s approval rating has sunk to a record-low 6.6%, with 80% of residents holding an unfavorable view of him, including just 2% approval among Latino voters and 5% among white voters. This historically low support suggests Johnson is unlikely to be reelected, facing deep unpopularity across nearly all demographic groups in the city.

Johnson has condemned the ICE raids as “heavy-handed and provocative,” drawing parallels to the federal crackdown in Los Angeles that Democrats say have triggered widespread unrest. 

City officials confirmed ICE tactical teams are on 48-hour standby for possible operations in Chicago, further inflaming tensions.

Newsome, however, warned that what happened Tuesday may have been a “test run” for larger, more coordinated unrest scheduled for Saturday, June 14 which will include protests in DuPage County communities of Naperville, Lisle and Warrenville. 

The protests are part of the “No Kings” nationwide event targeting around 2,000 cities across the United States. 

Newsome also highlighted concerns about suburbs experiencing unrest, like Naperville during the BLM riots, he said. 

In the 2020 BLM riots, at least 30 Naperville businesses were vandalized and looted, along with damaged ATMs and multiple police vehicles.   

Images from June 10. (Terry Newsome)