Cook County Judge to Rule on Special Prosecutor Demand for Operation Midway Blitz Investigation

A Cook County judge will decide next month on a petition to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged abuses by federal immigration agents during the Trump administrations Operation Midway Blitz mass deportation campaign last fall.

Cook County Circuit Judge Erica Reddicks decision, scheduled to be handed down on May 11, will take into account more than 1½ hours of arguments in her courtroom. Following weeks of legal back-and-forth, lawyers for more than 400 Cook County residents including elected officials and community leaders accused Cook County State Attorney Eileen ONeill Burke of abdicating her duty to constituents for not having opened any investigations into alleged wrongdoing by federal agents.

The petitioners argue that ONeill Burke has a conflict of interest that prevents her from investigating federal agents. They pointed to an August email obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request in which a former top staffer for ONeill Burke explained why the state attorney would not sign onto a joint letter condemning President Donald Trump for his threats to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago.

We obviously share concerns about Trumps actions rhetoric and bluster then-state attorney spokesman Matt McGrath wrote. At the same time the State Attorneys 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.

Loevy and Loevy attorney Locke Bowman said the email was further evidence that ONeill Burke has a conflict of interest necessitating the appointment of a special prosecutor. If she was unwilling to criticize the invasion of Cook County as it was about to happen what confidence can the citizens of Cook County have that now in the aftermath when violence has been perpetrated when crimes have been committed that she will be the person to step up and investigate those who have committed crimes he told the judge. I submit that the answer is no confidence at all.

The petitioners highlighted specific incidents they say demonstrate federal agents law enforcement misconduct. They pointed to the Sept 12 fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González an undocumented immigrant in suburban Franklin Park and the Oct 4 shooting of Marimar Martínez in Chicagos Brighton Park neighborhood as two of the most violent examples of agents unexamined crimes.

Beyond those Loevy and Loevy attorney Meg Gould said agents committed aggravated batteries assaults kidnapping conspiracy and acts of perjury all of which she said ONeill Burke has the duty to investigate. There are multiple conflicts preventing the states attorney from doing her job for the people of Cook County Gould said. She said the first and most straightforward conflict for ONeill Burke was that her refusal to lead investigations was tantamount to abdicating her duty.

Cook County Assistant State Attorney Yvette Loizon told the judge all of the petitioners arguments for appointing a special prosecutor fall short of the legal standard for granting the extraordinary request. Judge what we have here is a group of influential political leaders community members from a cross-section of our city who are outraged. And they should be we are outraged she said. But that outrage does not translate to what the law requires to appoint a special prosecutor.

Loizon cited a pair of Illinois Supreme Court rulings dealing with special prosecutors saying they ultimately instructed caution so as to not risk prosecutions getting overturned on appeal. She said ONeill Burke did not sign onto political statements like the August letter to mitigate that risk. Further Loizon pointed to February guidelines the state attorney published for her office to follow for handling any future investigations of federal agents. The state attorney made it clear in her protocol and were making it clear here today that if ICE agents get investigated we want to do it right she said. That we can actually hold them accountable without impediment.

In a brief filed last month the state attorneys office wrote that investigating and charging a case simply to have it dismissed before trial would bring no accountability for any criminal acts arising out of Operation Midway Blitz and does nothing to advance the public interest.

In a news conference after Fridays hearing Loevy and Loevy attorney Steve Art responded to that claim saying there is always inherent risk in bringing charges. That there will be a successful defense to the charges that a witness will not show up to testify that something will go wrong in the case he said. For any of those things to happen however we need to get to the starting line. And the starting line is somebody who will not prosecute no matter what but somebody who will look at the evidence and exercise some kind of prosecutorial power to say there needs to be accountability and justice in this case.

He also dismissed ONeill Burkes perpetual concern about the federal Supremacy Clause and qualified immunity for federal agents saying were never going to know what effect they have legally unless someone comes in and actually prosecutes and investigates these crimes in the first place. So what the Supremacy Clause really says in this context is if somebody is doing something reasonable related to their job they are going to have a defense in an ultimate prosecution of the case which is a reasonable doctrine to have he said. I do not think anybody who takes a fair look at the evidence of these serious crimes could possibly say that they are related to a federal law enforcement prerogative or that they are reasonable.

The coalition seeking a special prosecutor is made up of more than 400 members including U.S. Reps. Jesus Chuy Garcia Jonathan Jackson and Delia Ramirez all Democrats and former U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo who was appointed to the bench in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.

Reddicks ruling could be a crucial turning point in efforts to hold agents responsible for their conduct during the deportation campaign. If she were to appoint a special prosecutor the law requires her to contact public agencies like Attorney General Kwame Raouls office or other counties to see if someone is available at no cost before appointing a private attorney.

Loizon on Friday called such issues sticky wickets and said ONeill Burke tried to draw a road map to navigate them when she released protocols for such cases in February. The state attorney has repeatedly denounced the deplorable conduct of the Trump administration Loizon insisted and even filed an amicus brief opposing the president when he ultimately tried to follow through on his National Guard threats.

During Fridays argument Reddick asked coalition attorney Meg Gould whether individual complaints had been made to police departments about the agents actions. Gould told the judge she did not immediately have that information. However coalition attorney Steve Art later told reporters we know that people have made complaints.