Politics

Cook County State’s Attorney Blasts Mayor’s ICE Executive Order As ‘Wholly Inappropriate’

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke blasted the executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson to create a framework to prosecute federal agents for criminal misconduct as “wholly inappropriate.”

The order, signed Jan. 31, directs members of the Chicago Police Department to document actions by agents with ICE and Border Protection and attempt to identify those responsible for suspected misconduct or criminal violations.

But instead of laying the groundwork for prosecutions, the order “jeopardizes our ability to effectively prosecute and secure convictions when federal law enforcement agents have committed a crime,” O’Neill Burke said in an email to her staff late Friday.

A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment, but Johnson defended his executive order during an appearance on cable television network MSNOW on Sunday as a necessary step to protect Chicagoans from being “terrorized” by federal agents. 

The executive order does not require that O’Neill Burke do anything, but would ensure evidence of wrongdoing by federal agents was preserved, in order to allow prosecutions to move forward.

O’Neill Burke’s concerns with Johnson’s executive order focus on the section that requires CPD supervisors to preserve evidence of suspected wrongdoing by federal immigration agents and “at the direction of the mayor’s office, make a referral of felony matters to the Cook County State’s Attorney.”

In a memo, Director of Policy Yvette Loizon said the state’s attorney’s office will not “conduct felony review on cases that have been referred to us at the direction of any non-law enforcement or non-investigative entity.”

Johnson’s order gave police brass 30 days to develop a policy to implement the order. A CPD spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.

“The defense would undoubtedly use this unprecedented approach as a mechanism for characterizing any prosecution of a federal immigration agent as political and would likely attempt to discredit CPD personnel called as witnesses by suggesting that their investigation was ‘directed’ by the mayor’s office,” according to the memo. “Whatever mayoral staff member that gave the directive to refer the case to the (state’s attorney’s office) would also likely be called as a witness, creating serious litigation issues and jeopardizing our ability to secure a conviction and justice for victims of crime. As such, inserting the mayor’s office into the already well-established process for felony review of charges is not only wholly inappropriate, but it also jeopardizes our ability to effectively prosecute and secure convictions when federal law enforcement agents have committed a crime.”

Since federal agents shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis, Johnson and other Democratic elected officials have been under intense pressure to step up efforts to rein in the aggressive immigration raids launched by President Donald Trump as part of the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.

O’Neill Burke “shares deep concerns over the recent actions of ICE agents that have created chaos, fear and irreparable harm in our communities” and is “committed to doing all we can under the law to support and review law enforcement investigations of that conduct and prosecute when appropriate,” according to a statement from her spokesperson.

In most cases, state and local law enforcement officials are prohibited from charging federal officials for reasonable conduct that occurred during the course of their official duties.

“People are being killed,” Johnson said. “The type of terror and chaos that has been evoked by this administration is something that has to be checked.”

O’Neill Burke’s office took no action after federal agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez on Sept. 12 and after federal agents shot Marimar Martinez five times on Oct. 4.

Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Franklin Park after dropping his children at day care.

Federal agents alleged Villegas-González dragged an officer with his vehicle while attempting to flee, seriously injuring an officer.

However, local police body camera videos showed the agent who shot Villegas-González walking around afterward and dismissing his own injuries as “nothing major.”

Martinez was charged with a felony after federal officials accused her of trying to ram agents with her vehicle. The case was dismissed after videos emerged that Martinez’s attorneys said showed an agent steering his vehicle into Martinez’s truck.

After Martinez was shot, Chicago Police Supt. Snelling said his officers “cannot and will not” arrest federal agents conducting immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and implored residents not to interfere with those efforts.

There is no evidence that either CPD or Franklin Park police investigated either shooting.

“After witnessing the devastating events which have occurred here and across the country, State’s Attorney Burke directed her legal team to research and draft a protocol to ensure the CCSAO’s process for moving forward with cases that may be presented to us by local law enforcement is clear and grounded in the law,“ Loizon wrote. “We have shared that draft Protocol with CPD, the Illinois State Police, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and State Attorneys from around the state for review. We will be sure to share it with the mayor’s office when appropriate so we can meaningfully collaborate in the name of public safety.”

The state’s attorney’s office can only bring charges based on evidence gathered by police and does not investigate suspected criminal activity directly.

Johnson said Tuesday that Chicago and Cook County had no choice but to act, since federal officials have refused to even investigate federal agents’ conduct.

“I wish I did not have to use executive authority to provide protection for the residents of the city of Chicago because the president of the United States of America has declared war on our city,” Johnson said. “The abnormality of this moment cannot be underscored enough. When you have rogue, reckless behavior of federal agents, that actually undermines the work that police officers in our city are doing.”

O’Neill Burke declined to answer questions from WTTW News about why her office was not part of a coalition of other local prosecutors determined to bring charges against federal law enforcement officers who violate state laws.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who founded the Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach, praised Johnson in a statement released by the mayor’s office, saying he had “stepped forward at a critical moment to defend his residents, protect local authority, and insist that federal power be exercised within the bounds of the law.”

The coalition is to be known as FAFO, a profane reference to what happens when bad decisions result in adverse consequences, as first reported by the New York Times.

In response to a question from WTTW News, Johnson declined to call on O’Neill Burke to join that coalition, calling it a matter of “personal conviction.”

“I do see unity is our greatest strength,” Johnson said. “I also believe it’s a really unique opportunity for us to draw strength from one another, to push back against the tyrant in the White House.”

O’Neill Burke narrowly won the 2024 Democratic nomination for state’s attorney with the support of Chicago’s largest police union and many of Johnson’s fiercest critics.

In a post on its website, the Fraternal Order of Police referred to Johnson as a child and called the executive order his “latest tantrum.”

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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