A Cook County judge on Thursday declined to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged wrongdoing by federal immigration agents, finding that Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is not operating under a conflict of interest.
Judge Erica Reddick made the ruling in front of a packed courtroom at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, determining that the petitioners did not meet the legal requirements to replace Burke in investigating and potentially prosecuting federal agents. Reddick, though, said the petitioners did submit compelling evidence that civilians were victims of conduct by agents that was “violent and appeared to be unprovoked.”
Burke has been under fire for allegedly failing to act in the face of aggressive immigration operations in the Chicago area this fall. As part of an effort by community members to hold federal immigration agents accountable, a coalition of organizations, politicians, clergy, and city and suburban residents filed a petition in March in Cook County Circuit Court that asks a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to potentially prosecute immigration agents for their actions during the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement operation last fall.
The coalition is made up of more than 200 elected officials, attorneys, activists, clergy and organizations, including the Chicago News Guild, a union that represents some journalists at the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune journalists were not involved in the litigation that is the subject of this article.
The effort has been heatedly opposed by Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, whose office has called the petition “frivolous, contrary to centuries of legal precedent and court rulings, riddled with factual errors, and ultimately hampers my office’s ability to hold ICE agents accountable.”
The petition accused Burke of failing to act during the operation, outlining numerous clashes between agents and civilians throughout the fall, most seriously, the killing of Silverio Villegas González in September and the wounding of Marimar Martínez in October. The issue of state prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against immigration agents has been an ongoing matter of public debate, with advocacy groups pushing for state prosecutions in the absence of trustworthy federal investigations while Burke has said the law only allows her to charge on-duty agents in narrow circumstances.
The petitioners, represented by attorneys for the civil rights firm Loevy & Loevy, have argued that Burke has a “political alliance” with federal law enforcement that has hindered her office from investigating alleged wrongdoing by federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz, pointing to an email sent in August by Burke’s former spokesman Matt McGrath to other county officials.
In the email sent shortly before the beginning of Operation Midway Blitz, McGrath said the office would not be able to sign onto a joint statement issued by Cook County officials that condemned attacks on Chicago made by President Donald Trump.
“We obviously share concerns about Trump’s actions, rhetoric and bluster. At the same time, the State’s Attorney’s top priority remains combating illegal guns, and to continue doing that effectively we need to maintain our excellent working relationships with the local ATF and other federal partners,” McGrath wrote. “So we will not be able to sign on.”
Representatives for the state’s attorney’s office, though argued during a hearing last month that they are “required to follow the law, even when it’s unpopular.” Yvette Loizon, chief of policy at the state’s attorney’s office, told the judge that declining to sign onto a political statement does not amount to a conflict, adding that making political statements can jeopardize prosecutions.
Loizon said prosecutors “certainly don’t have a relationship with ICE, certainly don’t violate the Trust Act.”
Attorneys for the petitioners have argued to Reddick that Martínez has publicly called for charges against the Border Patrol agent who shot her five times after they were involved in a car wreck in Brighton Park in October. She also referenced other allegations of attacks perpetrated by agents that were caught on video or documented in depositions or other court filings.
“These are not just brutal acts, they are crimes,” Meg Gould, an attorney for the petitioners, argued last month.
The petitioners drew comparisons to the appointment of special prosecutor who won a murder conviction against former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, though the state’s attorney’s office countered that in that case, then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez stepped aside voluntarily.
One matter at issue before the judge was whether the state’s attorney’s office can initiate its own investigations without referral by law enforcement.
The petitioners argued that prosecutors have the ability to open investigations, but the office has maintained that its position is that prosecutors can support investigations, but should not be the primary investigator.
In a recent development, though, the Illinois State Police has opened an investigation into the shooting death of Villegas González, the first independent probe of federal agents’ actions during the deportation sweep.
