Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who was shot by a Border Patrol agent five times in Brighton Park, joined others in filing police reports about the alleged abuse they suffered from federal agents during “Operation Midway Blitz” last fall. Martinez was joined by several others Monday at the Chicago Police Department’s 19th District Station to file police reports in hopes that local authorities can begin investigating unlawful conduct allegedly committed by federal immigration agents. “The federal government has made clear there will be no investigation into these (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Border Patrol shootings,” Martinez said. “If the federal government refuses to act, state and local authorities must do so.” Nine people filed police reports Monday, according to Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez, who said they chose to do this together in order to make their call for accountability “both public and impossible to ignore.”
Some backstory: The filings come months after the Illinois Accountability Commission detailed a “public record of abuses” committed by Trump officials after federal immigration agents repeatedly used physical force and tear gas against Chicagoans throughout the city. That report found federal immigration agents engaged in unconstitutional uses of force including “extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts” while White House officials routinely lied to conceal the motivations behind “Operation Midway Blitz.” Community advocates for months have pushed for criminal charges to be filed against federal agents, including those who shot Martinez and killed Silverio Villegas González during a separate traffic stop in suburban Franklin Park last year. In May, the Illinois State Police launched an investigation into the killing of Villegas González, and Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office said it would play a “supportive role.” That investigation remains ongoing and thus far, no charges stemming from a CPD investigation have been filed. O’Neill Burke earlier this year released a new protocol she said was designed to guide law enforcement agencies as they investigate any alleged crimes stemming from “Midway Blitz.” Her office Monday reiterated it is “committed to supporting these investigations.” “No one is above the law — including federal agents — and the (Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office) will not hesitate to prosecute any case when it is supported by the evidence and the law,” O’Neill Burke’s office said in a statement.
