A shocking video from suburban Chicago’s Cicero has triggered outrage nationwide after US Border Patrol agents allegedly pepper-sprayed a one-year-old girl and her asthmatic father during a chaotic federal operation on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred in the Sam’s Club parking lot near the Little Village neighborhood, where 35-year-old Rafael Veraza says agents attacked without warning amid what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later described as an “armed confrontation.”

Veraza told ABC News that he was in his car with his wife and daughter, Arianna, when agents approached. “He started spraying from the front of the car towards the back. Basically, I got sprayed all over my face,” he said.

The father, who has suffered from asthma since childhood, said the impact was immediate. “I couldn’t breathe. My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe,” Veraza said, describing the moment as “pure panic.” Both were briefly hospitalised for exposure to the chemical spray.

DHS Denies Allegations, Calls Crowd ‘Hostile’

In a statement issued Sunday, DHS denied using pepper spray in the Sam’s Club parking lot, saying that agents had been under attack from “violent rioters” and gunfire earlier that morning during Operation Midway Blitz.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended federal officers, claiming: “Law enforcement was shot at, rammed with vehicles, and attacked with bricks. No crowd control spray was deployed in a Sam’s Club lot.”

However, eyewitness video circulating online appears to contradict DHS’s version, showing a man coughing, clutching his daughter, and shouting for help as officers retreat toward their vehicles.

Clashes and Confusion

The Department’s full statement described a morning of chaotic encounters across Little Village, involving gunfire, thrown bricks, and multiple vehicle attacks on Border Patrol convoys.

DHS said agents arrested nine people, including eight US citizens, during the “series of assaults.” Yet the Veraza family insists they were simply shoppers caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. “I wasn’t doing anything. I was just trying to leave,” Rafael said.

Community Outrage

Civil rights groups and local residents are calling for an independent investigation, saying the agents’ use of force violates federal rules that were tightened just last week by a federal judge.

On Sunday, Indivisible Chicago Alliance members gathered to distribute “ICE Watch” safety kits and pamphlets on citizens’ rights.

As outrage grows, the image of a choking toddler in her father’s arms has become a powerful symbol of the deepening tensions between Chicago communities and federal law enforcement.