* The Illinois Accountability Commission…
The Illinois Accountability Commission, housed in the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), today held its fifth public hearing to reveal further findings from the investigations on the misconduct of federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz, including the names of various rogue Border Patrol agents the administration protected by offering preemptive immunity.
“In my 25 years as a federal judge, I have never seen the type of brutality shown by the agents involved in Midway Blitz. It has been unprecedented,” said Chair Ruben Castillo. “The brutal conduct examined in these hearings does not reflect isolated incidents. It reflects a pattern that, across locations and operational contexts, is consistent in structure and effect. But the record documented today goes further. It addresses how that pattern was enabled by directives issued from the top.”
“Today, we turn to what made Operation Midway Blitz possible—immunity,” said Vice-Chair Patricia Brown Holmes. “Federal officials did not just tolerate lawlessness. They encouraged it. They shielded it. And they made a grand bargain with the agents: deliver arrests, occupy the city through fear, and we will protect you.”
During the hearing, lead investigators presented evidence and testimony that illustrated how the Trump Administration encouraged lawlessness. They outlined how the federal government deployed hundreds of masked and heavily armed agents from Border Patrol units known for their aggressive behavior. These agents violated federal court orders by making warrantless arrests without justification, fired off chemical weapons against entire neighborhoods, and covered up their misconduct by lying in reports. Agents identified for lawless behavior include:
• East Side Investigation – Border Patrol Agents Benito Nuñez, Carlos Chavira, and Jesus Guillen chased two men in a rental car without sirens in a residential area. A section chief ordered them to stop, and a field supervisor relayed that order multiple times. The agents said “no” and kept driving and turned on their body cameras after the pursuit was underway. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) also asked the agents not to deploy tear gas. The agents had already planned the gassing, and they followed through by gassing residents, journalists, and the very CPD officers who asked them to stop.
• Brighton Park Investigation: Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum, crashed into Marimar Martinez’s vehicle, and shot her five times without justification. The commission featured an anonymous eyewitness account from a person who saw Agent Exum shoot Ms. Martinez and corroborated Ms. Martinez’s account. The anonymous witness was invited to speak today, but through her attorney, she declined. Her attorney explained that she is afraid of reprisals and retaliation for speaking out. Through their investigation, the Commission also found that:
o Evidence was deliberately tampered with and destroyed
o Federal agents produced materially inaccurate official reports
o Chemical agents were deployed indiscriminately against a residential neighborhood without warning
o DHS leadership failed to ensure accountability at every level
• Repeat Offender: Yesterday, Evanston witness Jennifer Moriarty shared how Border Patrol Agent Timothy Donahue pulled his gun on civilians, dangerously brake checked vehicles, and denied medical care to a man with serious injuries. The body-worn camera footage the Commission reviewed also showed Agent Donahue at the scene of the most violent and chaotic episodes of Operation Midway Blitz, including in Brighton Park, Broadview, Albany Park, Little Village, and other neighborhoods. […]
A comprehensive report will be issued to the Governor and the People of Illinois on Thursday, April 30, 2026. This report will contain specific findings, referrals, and recommendations.
* Sun-Times…
Judge Rubén Castillo, chair of the Illinois Accountability Commission, made the call to action during his closing remarks at the commission’s final hearing Tuesday. The commission was tasked with scrutinizing the tactics used last fall during President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
A final report from the panel is scheduled to publish Thursday and will include specific recommendations for local and state officials, Castillo said.
“Our report is going to make very specific and detailed recommendations aimed at strengthening accountability and preventing the reoccurrence of the community devastation that has occurred in Illinois and in other communities such as Minneapolis,” Castillo said. “This report needs to be evaluated by other states and by public officials in this state who can take appropriate action, starting with the Cook County State’s Attorney, who will be referred cases for criminal prosecution.”
Castillo, a former U.S. district chief judge, is among the coalition calling for a special prosecutor to investigate federal agents.
* Tribune…
[Marimar Martinez, the 31-year-old who was shot five times by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in October,] testified at the final hearing of the Illinois Accountability Commission, which examined the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement operation this past fall. Tuesday’s session focused on what commissioners and attorneys described as a lack of consequences for federal immigration agents’ misconduct.
“Federal officials did not just tolerate lawlessness. They encouraged it. They shielded it. And they made a grand bargain with the agents: deliver arrests, occupy the city through fear, and we will protect you, even if you violate the Constitution,” said commission Vice Chair Patricia Brown Holmes.
Martinez, a U.S. citizen and teaching aide at a Montessori school, was shot by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum on Oct. 4 after a traffic crash on the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Martinez but later dropped the accusations. Investigative material made public after the shooting revealed that Exum joked and bragged about the shooting in a text chat with colleagues, was called a “legend” by a fellow agent and received praise directly from his supervisor, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
* WTTW…
Included in the evidence presented Tuesday was never-before-heard testimony from an anonymous eyewitness to Martinez’s shooting who backed up her accounting of the incident.
That witness, a woman whose testimony was heard only through snippets presented by the commission, said Exum fired at Martinez without provocation and that the federal agents on scene never appeared to be under any sort of attack. […]
After the shooting, the anonymous witness said Chicago police officers warned her and others to “be careful” because they had no idea what the agents were capable of.
“You could see the frustration … that there was this group of military personnel that came and just disrupted our Saturday,” the witness said. “It was insane.”
* Capitol News Illinois…
The commission also heard testimony about the importance of free and fair elections, featuring testimony from former Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs.
Durkin, a longtime Republican who described himself as pro-law enforcement, told the commission that Operation Midway Blitz was “the furthest thing” from our nation’s finest hour.
Now, he says, the Trump administration is threatening the sanctity of free and fair elections by floating the possibility that federal immigration agents could be at polling sites this November.
“This form of voter suppression isn’t new in Illinois,” Durkin said. “This trick is what has been used in Chicago for many years in elections: place menacing people in front of precincts, cause a disturbance, scare voters away. That’s a form of voter suppression.”
* More…
