A federal grand jury has indicted Diego Emmanuel Reyes, a 21-year-old man from Chicago, on charges that he intentionally rammed his SUV into the pickup truck of a federal immigration agent during an enforcement operation on the city’s Southwest Side.
Prosecutors allege Reyes then accelerated, continuing to push the agent’s vehicle forward during the incident, according to a Justice Department press release.
Federal prosecutors charged Reyes with assaulting, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon — with the SUV identified as the weapon in question.
Because of the enhanced charge tied to use of a dangerous weapon – in this case, his SUV – Reyes faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
According to the indictment, on Oct. 4, 2025, Reyes allegedly rammed his vehicle into the rear of a vehicle driven by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who was carrying out official duties on the Southwest Side of Chicago.
Federal prosecutors further allege that after the initial collision, Reyes accelerated his SUV and continued pushing the agent’s vehicle forward, the Justice Department said.
The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn McCarthy, said the DOJ.
“What this defendant did on October 4, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois, during Operation Midway Blitz was a dangerous and brazen act of violence against a federal agent as well as an attack on the rule of law,” said Boutros.
“Federal agents perform risky, essential work every single day to enforce our federal laws and keep our communities safe,” he continued.
“The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will never tolerate such conduct and will continue to hold accountable those who seek to assault, impede, intimidate, or interfere with lawful federal operations,” he said.
“I applaud our federal prosecutors and the federal agents and supervisors with the Chicago Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for having the fortitude, determination, and grit to see this important case through the grand jury where it can now be adjudicated to its fullest in a court of law,” Boutros noted further.
“The Chicago Field Office has zero tolerance for anyone impeding federal officers engaged in their lawful functions,” said DePodesta.
“The people of Chicago deserve to be safe and free from harm,” he noted further.
“The FBI is committed to using every available resource against those who undermine the rule of law and jeopardize the peace in our community,” DePodesta concluded, per the DOJ’s press release.
The alleged vehicle attack occurred during Operation Midway Blitz, part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement push in Chicago.
Images accompanying the report showed federal agents conducting multiple detentions in neighborhoods on Chicago’s North Side, while protesters clashed with personnel from the U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies.
Chicago has become one of the nation’s most visible battlegrounds over immigration enforcement policy.
City leaders have continued embracing sanctuary-style policies, while federal immigration crackdowns have drawn fierce opposition from progressive activists and local officials, reports noted.
That political standoff has increasingly created volatile conditions for federal agents operating in the city.
Prosecutors argue the Reyes case represents an example of those tensions escalating beyond protests into alleged physical attacks on law enforcement personnel carrying out federal operations, said reports.
Last week, border czar Tom Homan pledged to ‘surge’ agents into the state of New York if lawmakers there moved forward with legislation aimed at limiting or hampering federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“I’m sick of the threats from some of these out-of-touch Democrats. We’re enforcing the laws they enacted,” Homan told Fox News host Jesse Watters.