Rev. Hannah Kardon (United Methodist) Arrested at Broadview ICE; Officers Strike Leg with Batons, Throw Her to Ground

On October 17, 2025, Rev. Hannah Kardon — a United Methodist pastor affiliated with the United Church of Rogers Park, Chicago — was arrested during a demonstration at the Broadview ICE Processing Center in Broadview, Illinois. During the confrontation, Illinois State Police officers pushed demonstrators back using batons. Officers allegedly struck Kardon’s leg repeatedly and threw her to the ground. She sustained visible bruising. Accounts of the arrest indicate that Kardon maintained prayer throughout the physical confrontation with police, consistent with the witness posture adopted by other clergy at Broadview. She was charged in connection with the demonstration. The arrest was noted in WBEZ Chicago’s October 23 reporting on expanding clergy resistance at Broadview, and in Word & Way’s October 21 coverage of the arc following the October 11 Eucharistic procession denial six days earlier.

Sourcing note: Direct reporting on the October 17 arrest specifically is thinner than coverage of the September 19 pepper-ball attack on Rev. David Black or the November 14 mass clergy arrests. The arrest is documented in secondary referencing within October 21-23 reporting on the broader clergy-encounter arc; the fullest single account available from the substrate-pack research pass. If additional primary-source coverage of this specific date (Oct 17) exists in Chicago Tribune or Chicago Sun-Times archives, it would strengthen the entry. The fact pattern — baton strikes to the leg, thrown to ground, visible bruising, maintained prayer — is drawn from the WBEZ reporting context.

Denomination and congregation: Kardon is identified as United Methodist. Affiliation with United Church of Rogers Park is noted in the substrate-pack documentation. “United Church of Rogers Park” is an unusual name for a UMC congregation and may reflect a joint/federated congregation or a neighborhood congregation name; primary-source confirmation of the exact congregation would resolve this. The United Methodist identification is consistent across sources reviewed.

Context: The Broadview Clergy-Encounter Arc

The October 17 arrest of Rev. Kardon follows directly from the escalation pattern established at the same facility over the preceding four weeks. On September 19, ICE agents on the facility rooftop fired pepper balls at Rev. David Black (First Presbyterian Church of Chicago) while he offered an altar call at the perimeter fence — see 2025-09-19–rev-david-black-pepper-ball-pastor-at-broadview-ice-processing-center. On October 11, approximately 1,000 Catholics led by Fr. Larry Dowling processed to the facility gate bearing the consecrated Eucharist; state police relayed a denial from federal officials who declined to appear at the perimeter — see 2025-10-11–eucharistic-procession-denied-broadview-ice-operation-midway-blitz. The October 17 arrest represents the first documented physical arrest of a clergy member in the Broadview arc, escalating the state response from projectile force (September 19) and access denial (October 11) to direct physical detention of a minister.

The Broadview confrontation continued to escalate after October 17. Clergy resistance and formal institutional response expanded through the fall:

• November 1, 2025 — Chicago Auxiliary Bishop José María García-Maldonado led a formal All Saints Day delegation barred at the gate; 2,000+ gathered for outdoor Mass; state-police-relay denial mechanism used again — see 2025-11-01–all-saints-day-delegation-denied-broadview-ice-auxiliary-bishop-garcia-maldonado.
• November 7, 2025 — Federal officials declared “there is no more prayer in front of building or inside the building because this is the state” — see 2025-11-07–ice-broadview-prayer-ban-first-amendment.
• November 14, 2025 — More than 100 clergy gathered; seven faith leaders arrested in a single morning; Sister JoAnn Persch (Sisters of Mercy, age 91) died the same day — see 2025-11-14–seven-clergy-arrested-at-broadview-sister-joann-persch-dies-same-day.
• November 19, 2025 — Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership filed federal lawsuit alleging First Amendment, RFRA, and RLUIPA violations — see 2025-11-19–clergy-plaintiffs-constitutional-lawsuit-trump-administration-broadview.

Rev. Kardon’s arrest on October 17 also preceded Cardinal Cupich’s public invocation of the word “hypocrisy” in his approximately October 21-22 National Catholic Reporter interview — in which he explicitly named the access denials and arrests as “a violation of religious freedom.” The timeline is tight: the cardinal’s statement came days after Kardon’s arrest and amid reporting that documented it.