Evanston Police Chief Schenita Stewart has formally asked the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for guidance on whether federal immigration agents can be criminally charged over their conduct during an Operation Midway Blitz raid last Halloween that left a car crashed near Oakton Street and Asbury Avenue and residents pepper-sprayed and detained for hours. The request, sent to the office’s Law Enforcement Review Unit, marks one of the most direct local attempts yet to hold federal agents accountable under state law for actions taken during the sweeping immigration enforcement operation that has rattled Chicago’s North Shore suburbs for nearly a year.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Evanston police opened an investigation into alleged illegal use of force by federal agents stemming from the October 31, 2025 incident, and Stewart’s office is now asking the Law Enforcement Review Unit to help determine the most appropriate path forward. The unit was created under a February 2026 policy from State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who has said no one is above the law, including ICE agents and prosecutors, according to the same report. That protocol, formally known as the Federal Immigration Enforcement Action Response Protocol, is designed to guide officers investigating potential misconduct and prosecutors reviewing the resulting cases, providing analysis of how a state might prosecute federal agents for alleged on-duty misconduct.
What Happened Near Oakton and Asbury
The Halloween raid at the center of the request has become one of the most cited flashpoints of Operation Midway Blitz’s presence in Evanston. Federal agents were involved in a car crash near Oakton and Asbury during the operation, and the Illinois Accountability Commission’s final report alleged that agents used excessive force against civilians that day, describing the actions as a brutal attack without apparent justification, per the Tribune’s account of the report. Separately, as detailed by Patch, agents beat and pepper-sprayed bystanders, pointed firearms at residents, and detained civilians for hours during the raid.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss described last Halloween as among the most traumatic days the city’s community had experienced, per the Tribune’s report. Biss also criticized the FBI’s investigation into the matter as not acting in good faith, and he has said federal agents allegedly used excessive force against civilians. The tension between city officials and federal enforcement did not end that day — ICE agents returned to Evanston in December for a follow-up immigration enforcement operation, during which Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino engaged in a heated public dispute with Biss in a Home Depot parking lot, according to the Tribune.
The State Commission’s Findings
The Illinois Accountability Commission, established by Governor JB Pritzker under Executive Order 2025-06 and chaired by retired federal judge Rubén Castillo, released its 204-page final report on April 30, 2026, submitting formal criminal referral letters to prosecutors in Cook and Kane counties and to local police in Evanston, Chicago, Elgin, and Franklin Park, according to Capitol News Illinois. The commission identified Timothy Donahue, Thomas Parsons, and Edward Maxa as the federal agents involved in the Evanston events, and it concluded there was reasonable cause to believe the agents should be formally investigated, per the Tribune. The commission also found that federal agents may have violated agency policy, state and federal criminal law, and individuals’ constitutional rights, according to its report as cited by the Tribune…