Surveillance video shows Secret Service agents being turned away from Chicago school
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Surveillance video released on Friday shows the moment two Secret Service agents showed up at Hamline Elementary School in the Back of the Yards neighborhood one week ago.
School officials initially said they had turned away agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but ICE officials denied they were there, and the Secret Service later confirmed their agents went to the school while investigating a threat against a government official under their protection.
Surveillance video released by Chicago Public Schools officials on Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request shows the agents were at the school for about 30 minutes.
The video shows the agents talking to Hamline staffers outside the school, but the footage does not include audio that could provide more insight into what was said.
After the encounter, CPS officials held a news conference claiming ICE agents had tried to get inside, but were not allowed access. However, hours later the district acknowledged they were mistaken, and that it was Secret Service agents who went to the school, calling it a "misunderstanding, reflective of the fear and concerns in the community amid the [Trump] administration's focus on undocumented immigrants."
The Secret Service has said its agents clearly identified themselves and provided their business cards with their contact information to the school principal at the time.
Sources said the Secret Service was investigating an online threat that a Hamline student made against President Trump following the U.S. ban on TikTok.
Despite first providing false information on the agents' visit to the school, CPS officials have said their response showed they were prepared should ICE agents ever come to a school.
Under state and local laws, CPS is prohibited from asking students or their families about their immigration status, and schools are not allowed to coordinate with ICE agents.
