Nearly 250 nonprofit organizations, attorneys and bar associations, religious leaders, academics, veterans groups, media outlets and elected officials have petitioned a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes committed by federal agents during the enforcement campaign known as Operation Midway Blitz.
The petition, filed Thursday in the criminal division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, asks the court’s chief judge to appoint an independent prosecutor to review whether federal agents violated Illinois criminal law while conducting operations across Chicago in 2025.
Supporters announced the filing during a press conference at Federal Plaza in the Loop, arguing that extensive video footage and court records show misconduct by federal agents from agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“Homicide, attempted murder, aggravated battery, assault, kidnapping, conspiracy, perjury, these are all crimes, and the whole world saw them happen,” said Juan Pablo Herrera, board president of Palenque LSNA and a member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “There are hundreds of hours of videos documenting them and thousands of pages of court records and sworn declarations.”
Advocates say enforcement actions affected multiple Chicago neighborhoods, including Pilsen, Little Village, Logan Square, Hermosa, Belmont Cragin and Humboldt Park.
“Last year Chicago felt terrorized, and I don’t use that word lightly,” Herrera said. “Children in our community became afraid to walk to school, parents became afraid to leave their homes, and even houses of worship did not feel safe anymore.”
Daniel Massoglia, director of the Civil Rights Clinic at First Defense Legal Aid, said the group believes an independent prosecutor is necessary because no criminal charges have been filed related to the allegations.
“If we do not treat these actions as the crimes they are, the message to federal agents operating in Cook County will be that you can shoot unarmed civilians, assault journalists and clergy, brutalize protestors and lie under oath with impunity,” Massoglia said.
Under Illinois law, a special prosecutor can be appointed if a court determines the elected state’s attorney has a conflict of interest or declines to pursue a case.
Petitioners say their push in Cook County was inspired in part by legal and community responses in Minnesota, where the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is investigating at least 17 possible criminal incidents involving federal immigration agents, including allegations of excessive force and two civilian deaths. Public hearings and an evidence portal launched by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty are ongoing efforts to document potential charges.
Attorney Steve Art of the civil rights law firm Loevy + Loevy, which represents the petitioners, said federal officers can face state criminal charges if they violate local law.
“Federal agents are not immune from prosecution for state crimes that they commit,” Art said. “Those officers can be held accountable in state courts for their state crimes.”
Tanya Woods, executive director of the Westside Justice Center, said enforcement activity also affected other parts of the city.
“While the Latino communities bore the brunt of the violence, DHS conducted its campaign throughout all communities, including helicopter raids in the predominantly Black South Shore community and chokeholds on the West Side,” Woods said.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office says it is aware of the petition but disputes the need for a special prosecutor.
At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke acknowledged concerns about the alleged behavior of federal agents while reiterating her opposition to appointing a special prosecutor.
“I think everybody who saw the behavior of ICE agents was absolutely repulsed by it,” O’Neill Burke said. “I think all of us who respect the law and the Constitution saw what they were doing as not within the confines of the law. I understand their frustration. We are going to answer it in court, and there will be a time and place.”
O’Neill Burke previously said the request for a special prosecutor could undermine efforts by her office to bring charges against federal agents if evidence supports it.
“The reported plan to petition for a special prosecutor will make it more difficult for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to prosecute and win convictions against ICE agents who break the law and secure justice for victims harmed by their conduct,” O’Neill Burke said in a statement.
She also called the request “a merit-less petition,” adding it is “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.”
Petitioners say the filing is intended to ensure an independent review of the evidence.
“We’re not here to say what charges should be brought,” Art said. “We’re asking for an independent prosecutor who can review the evidence and decide what crimes, if any, should be prosecuted.”
A hearing on the petition is scheduled for March 24 before the chief judge of the criminal division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.