Judge rejects request for special prosecutor to investigate ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ agents

A Cook County judge on Thursday denied a petition to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute alleged abuses by federal immigration agents during the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” mass deportation campaign last fall.

The ruling alleviates — at least for now — months of pressure on Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to launch such probes herself.

Cook County Judge Erica Reddick sided with Burke’s position that her office has limited legal authority to initiate investigations without a request from law enforcement, ruling that the state’s attorney’s office “does not bear responsibility” for doing so, as those pushing for a special prosecutor had claimed.

“Since the state’s attorney does not have the authority to initiate a widespread investigation, it cannot be shown that the state’s attorney, at least at this point, has abandoned her duty,” Reddick said.

The judge emphasized that even if a special prosecutor were to be appointed, that person would be subject to the same limitations as the state’s attorney. Reading her opinion from the bench, Reddick said that “if the state’s attorney does not have the authority” to initiate investigations, “a special prosecuting attorney would similarly be prohibited from doing so.”

But the judge also noted that petitioners gave compelling evidence that “many people in Cook County … were victims of criminal wrongdoing” at the hands of federal immigration agents, which she said was “violent and appeared to be unprovoked.”

Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s ruling, Burke blasted the “meritless petition” to appoint a special prosecutor. She said the state’s attorney’s office is “open to bringing charges when it’s appropriate” — as a “second step” after a law enforcement investigation.

“So, if anyone says the state’s attorney’s office has abdicated her duty, they clearly do not have the facts,” Burke said. “That's what Judge Reddick found today.”

Locke Bowman, an attorney with Chicago-based civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy, told reporters he “could not be more disappointed” by the judge's ruling, characterizing Reddick’s reliance on Illinois Supreme Court precedent as “a path of technicality.”

However, he declined to directly answer whether the coalition planned to appeal Reddick’s decision, instead repeating that those who believed they were victimized by immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz must go file police reports, which could then be forwarded to the state’s attorney’s office.

“Judge Reddick has told us the path that has to be taken, in her view,” Bowman said. “We have no choice now. We have no choice. We will not abandon the path. We will insist on accountability.”