CHICAGO – The Cook County state’s attorney’s office on Tuesday hit back at an effort to appoint an outside prosecutor to investigate potential wrongdoing by federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz, filing a response in court arguing that the move was driven by public outrage rather than the law.
Earlier this month, a group of community members, organizations and politicians filed a petition in Cook County Circuit Court asking 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 petition, which accuses Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke of failing to act during the operation, outlines 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…