An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, named Adam Saracco, entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of battery. The incident involved Saracco throwing a protester, Robert Held, to the ground while filming him at a gas station. The plea was made in Maywood, resulting in a sentence of one year of supervision.
Police body camera footage from Brookfield captures Saracco in conversation with local police before facing charges related to the confrontation that occurred on December 27, 2025. Held, a local attorney known for protesting at the ICE processing center in Broadview, claimed that Saracco threw him down after following Saracco from the center.
Saracco, at the time, was off duty during Operation Midway Blitz, a period of intense immigration enforcement. He is reportedly the first immigration agent to face charges in Cook County for behavior towards protesters and civilians during this operation.
“I don’t want anybody sticking their camera in my face. I don’t know what he’s trying to do with this,” Saracco stated to the police at the scene. “I tried to grab his phone.”
At the gas station, witnesses reported seeing Held being tackled. One witness recounted, “I saw this old man being tackled to the ground.” She intervened by honking her horn. Brookfield police initially pursued felony charges, but after review, the state’s attorney’s office determined the case suitable for misdemeanor court, rejecting felony approval.
Community advocates, including Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, face pressure to investigate alleged wrongdoings by agents during the controversial enforcement period. Burke indicated that her office can charge agents for on-duty misconduct only when incidents are referred by law enforcement.
As of recent, ten individuals, among them Marimar Martinez, who suffered a shooting by a Border Patrol agent last year, filed police reports in hopes of prompting investigations. Burke’s office emphasized a consistent approach to evaluating evidence and ensuring legal standards are upheld.