Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke Stands Against ‘Midway Blitz’ Immigration Operation: A Crucial Opposition

CHICAGO (WLS) — A brief but pivotal hearing took place on Tuesday, marking the onset of a legal journey where a Cook County judge will determine the appointment of a special prosecutor. This potential prosecutor would delve into the actions of federal immigration officers from an incident last fall.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is firmly against this petition.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

After the court session, attorneys representing a coalition of approximately 200 groups, clergy, and public officials publicly criticized Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. They accused her of neglecting to investigate alleged misconduct by federal immigration officials during the “Midway Blitz” operation.

“A murder was committed. There was an attempted murder. Months and months have gone by,” emphasized Locke Bowman, a partner at Loevy & Loevy.

The high-profile cases in question include the killing of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in Franklin Park and the shooting of Marimar Martinez, which continue to draw significant attention.

It is why they are calling for an independent special prosecutor to investigate, even as O’Neill Burke herself has called such a move illegal. Her office has already outlined a protocol for charging federal agents committing violent crimes.

“People want somebody to do something. I get that. But us violating the law doesn’t get us where we need to go,” O’Neill Burke said.

That argument is part of the filing that was submitted in court by her office, saying, in part, “The law permits the appointment of a special prosecutor for an actual conflict of interest in two distinct scenarios… Neither scenario exists here.”

The state’s attorney’s office also argued that “in Illinois… federal agents must be investigated by law enforcement… The petition before this Court is baseless, frivolous, and contrary to law. It must be denied.”

The petitioners’ attorneys called O’Neill Burke’s position an abdication of her duty.

“There is absolutely nothing that stops a state prosecutor from looking into, from evaluating evidence and from bringing charges,” said Loevy & Loevy Partner Steve Art.

But do they have a case? ABC7 Legal Analyst Gil Soffer believes the odds are against them.

“There are extraordinary circumstances, as is often the case with laws where you could, in this case, have an investigation conducted by the state’s attorney’s office. But it would be the extraordinary case,” Soffer said.

Judge Erica Reddick set April 10 as the next court date in this case, at which time the petitioners will have to offer up their formal response to the state’s attorney’s opposition.