Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke said her office cannot conduct independent investigations into crimes committed by ICE. She’s lying.

April 17th, 2026 – Chicago

On March 24, 2026, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke responded to a petition filed by the law firm, Loevy + Loevy, earlier last month, calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate crimes committed by federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz last fall. These crimes include the murder of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez by two unidentified ICE agents and the attempted murder of Marimar Martinez by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum. Loevy + Loevy‘s petition is the second of its kind. In February, private attorney Sheryl Weikal filed a separate special prosecutor petition against Burke for failure to investigate criminal misconduct by ICE.

In her response to Loevy + Loevy, Burke paints herself as the victim of a pressure campaign by members of a legally ignorant public who, “would prefer that she make [prosecutorial] decisions based on public sentiment, political pressure, the urging of elected officials, and information gleaned from newspaper articles and civil pleadings rather than a criminal investigation conducted by law enforcement officers with access to evidence that has been properly collected and documented.”

Why can’t Burke investigate ICE?

According to Burke, until law enforcement investigates crimes committed by ICE agents and shares evidence with her office, whether Franklin Park police in the case of Silverio or CPD in the case of Marimar, her hands are tied.

To support her claim, she cites a  2017 Illinois Supreme Court decision that limits her ability to investigate potential crimes as a local State’s Attorney to instances where, “other law enforcement agencies inadequately deal with such investigation or where a law enforcement agency asks the State’s Attorney for assistance.”

However, there is no evidence to suggest either CPD or Franklin Park police investigated Silverio or Marimar’s shooting or intend to.

Federal agents are not immune to criminal prosecution at the state level if state officials can prove that the actions undertaken by federal agents were not “necessary or proper” to perform their federal duties. This means Burke can charge federal agents for violating state laws if, as she says, an investigation is conducted.

Through his January 31, 2026, “ICE on Notice” executive order, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called on CPD to investigate and refer federal agents for criminal prosecution. The “notice” caused a spat between Burke and Johnson, with Burke accusing Johnson of jeopardising cases by bringing politics into the matter, only to turn around and call on CPD to do essentially the same thing. Five months later, CPD, the so-called “People’s Mayor,” and Burke have nothing to show for it, with no investigations into ICE misconduct.

Burke has more power to prosecute ICE than she’s letting on.

According to the American Bar Association commentary cited in the 2017 SCOTUS case, “a prosecutor may need to conduct investigations that the police are unable or unwilling to undertake” and “may also need to carry out lengthy or unusually technical investigations.” In section B of the Illinois statute that grants the State’s attorneys their power (Chapter 55 5/3-9005 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes) Burke is given the power to “appoint one or more special investigators to…conduct investigations which assist [her] in the performance of [her] duties.”

In short, Burke could launch an independent investigation into ICE if she wanted to. Instead, she’s choosing not to.

So why the lie?

The truth is, Eileen Burke is a coward. Having gotten used to winning cases by largely going after people without the resources to fight their charges, Burke doesn’t want to make the effort to go after a more resourced federal government and risk a stain on her conviction record. For Silverio, Marimar and members of the public, that means the terror enacted on them by ICE is not worth Burke’s reputation. It means just like with local pigs, having a badge and a gun gives you the right to get away with murder.

We say fuck that! ICE agents must be held criminally accountable for their terror!

Saturday, April 18th, at 2 pm, Casa Cafe Dare to Struggle will be hosting a People’s Tribunal to Convict ICE on April 18th. At the tribunal, we invite members of the public impacted by ICE terror to testify. We’ll do what Burke refuses to do and convict Exum and other ICE agents for their crimes. We will then make plans with attendees to build momentum around the petition against Burke!

Loevy + Loevy will be back in courtroom 101, 9:30 am on April 24th at 2650 S California for oral arguments with the prosecution regarding the petition. Weikal’s petition will have its first hearing at 10 am at the Daley Centre in courtroom 2307 or on Zoom. We are calling on people to pack the court on both days!

Let’s show Burke and the judge in each case that the people want to see justice served against killer and trigger-happy ICE agents. Join us!

Chicago Lawyers Petition Judge to Appoint a Special Prosecutor for ICE Crimes during Midway Blitz

April 7th, 2026 – Chicago

On March 12th, a group of lawyers led by law firm Loevy + Loevy filed a petition asking a Cook County judge to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate crimes committed by federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz.

Midway Blitz is the code-name given to the federal immigration operation that unleashed an escalation of violence in Chicago last fall, with masked federal agents brutally kidnapping immigrants and unleashing terror in the streets against protesters, members of the clergy, and bystanders alike.

The petition calls out current Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke for her failure to investigate ICE agents responsible for terrorizing Chicagoans, despite a litany of eyewitness, video, and textual evidence documenting their crimes. Crimes include the public execution of 37-year-old Silverio Villegas Gonzalez and the attempted murder of 30-year old Marimar Martinez.

Silverio was murdered in September, and Marimar was shot in October. It is now April. Despite the ample evidence against federal agents, Burke’s office has allowed Exum and other trigger-happy ICE agents to walk the streets freely.

Silverio’s murder and Marimar’s attempted murder are joined by a slew of other crimes committed against Chicagoans documented in the petition. The petition, for example, cites instances of agents hurling chemical munitions at crowds of protesters, gassing whole neighborhoods, pointing a gun at a woman recording the kidnapping of an immigrant so she could “see the inside of the barrel,” and the brutalization and arrest of anti-ICE protesters at the Broadview ICE detention center. It also provides evidence of at-large-pig and then Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino lying under oath and brutalizing and encouraging his boys to make merry as they unleashed terror in our streets.

What is a special prosecutor?

Under Illinois law, a court may appoint a special prosecutor when the State’s Attorney (SA) is sick, absent, or unable to fulfill their duties, including a conflict of interest.

To prove a conflict of interest, the petition cites Burke’s collaboration with the feds in investigating things like internet crimes and her potential fears of political retaliation for going after ICE agents. In response, Burke rejected the petition as baseless, continuing to deflect calls to do her job and prosecute ICE.

Prosecute ICE: What’s happened since Dems made this declaration?

In their critique of Burke, the petition also cites actions from state prosecutors in Minneapolis and across the country who, unlike Burke, have taken action or stated their intention to investigate ICE for violations of state law.

In Minnesota, for example, after protesters called for the arrest of Jonathan Ross for the murder of Renee Good, the District Attorney of Hennepin County, Mary Moriarity, announced in early March that her office is investigating seventeen instances of “potential unlawful behavior” by federal immigration agents in Minnesota, including the actions of Gregory Bovino and the subsequent murder of Alex Pretti. Even with the feds withholding evidence for state prosecution, state officials have stated they could still proceed with charges. That was in early March, and no charges have been filed.

The same goes for Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner and the Fight Against ICE Overreach Project, a “national coalition of locally-elected, top prosecutors” that would ensure, as Krasner put it, “that accountability is real, coordinated, and enforced through institutions,” against federal agents.

However, a quick look at the project’s website shows no indication that prosecutors are prepared, planning, or initiating action to prosecute ICE agents.

What can we expect from lawsuits and the way forward?

We see calls by politicians and lawyers alike to charge ICE as a product of mass resistance in the streets, not the sudden political consciousness of officials, who, history shows, would much rather talk at us than act. We know from experience that even with efforts to charge law enforcement through the legal system, ONLY organized rebellion in the streets will achieve criminal charges.

That’s why Dare to Struggle launched the Spring Surge to Melt ICE campaign to channel mass resistance into an organized and sustained movement that could achieve criminal charges against ICE and put sand in the gears of the deportation machine.

In Minneapolis, in 2020, Black and other oppressed people showed us what’s possible when people rebel against the status quo and force those in power to heed their demands for justice. NO empty words, slogans, or promises from politicians were sufficient; instead, the masses would accept nothing more than locking up Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s murder—and their rebellion did.

We need to do the same!

Loevy + Loevy and other lawyers will be back in court on April 10th at 2650 S California to respond to Burke’s opposition to their petition.

We will be tracking the case and going to the people across city in the weeks following to build support in the streets and show Burke that the people will see justice served against killer ICE agents. Help us build for our People’s Tribunal to Convict ICE on April 18th. We’ll do what Burke refuses to do and convict Exum and others for the terror of the deportation machine, then make plans to go after them and make their convictions real!