* Tribune last week…
A state commission scrutinizing the Chicago-area immigration crackdown this past fall sent its findings to law enforcement Tuesday, with some members and Gov. JB Pritzker pushing for investigations they said could lead to criminal charges against federal agents involved in violent episodes during the notorious Operation Midway Blitz raids.
Since the 64-day crackdown, some advocates have been disappointed at what they see as a lack of accountability for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents who repeatedly used force against immigrants, U.S. citizens, protesters, journalists and neighborhood residents, including in the killing of Silverio Villegas González in September and the shooting of Marimar Martínez in October.
Pritzker last fall tasked the Illinois Accountability Commission with fact-finding about the sweeping Chicago-area raids for posterity, the public eye and potential future law enforcement actions, but the panel itself has no direct law enforcement power.
“The referral is not intended to say, you must prosecute. It is a set of evidence that they should be investigating,” Pritzker said.
He compared the report to a person approaching the police with an accusation or evidence.
“You would expect that the police, and then perhaps the state’s attorney, would then pursue that. You should expect that. … Obviously, some of us have opinions about whether somebody should be prosecuted or not, but I am not a judge,” he said.
* Tribune last night…
The Illinois State Police is investigating last year’s controversial fatal shooting of a father of two by an immigration enforcement agent in Franklin Park during the early days of the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz immigration-enforcement raids.
The state police investigation is the first independent probe of federal agents’ actions during the intense immigration and deportation sweep that lasted more than two months.
Silverio Villegas González, 38, had just dropped off his children at daycare on Sept. 12 and was on his way to work when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled him over near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Elder Lane in the near west suburb.
During the confrontation, Villegas González was shot in the neck before crashing his car into a semi truck, officials have said.
“The Franklin Park Police Department requested the (state police’s) Public Integrity Task Force to investigate the shooting of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez,” state police spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said in a prepared statement Tuesday night. “PITF has begun the initial investigation. When complete, the case will be turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.”
The controversial shooting spurred calls for a vigorous and transparent investigation by figures, including Gov. JB Pritzker and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Last year, after the shooting, Illinois Democrats led by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wrote to then-U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem asking for transparency and urging her to end what they called “dangerous operations” in the Chicago area. […]
On Tuesday night, state’s attorney spokeswoman Elyssa Cherney said the office has “been in contact with (the state police) and will play a supportive role in their investigation, in accordance with our Federal Immigration Enforcement Action Response Protocol.”
- Keyrock - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 11:26 am:
The pressure seems to have improved the State’s Attorney’s understanding of her powers. She started by saying she could only consider a completed investigation brought to her office. That was an inaccurate statement of the law.
She’s now saying her office will play a supportive role. That’s a positive development.
- queenies - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 12:34 pm:
== The pressure seems to have improved the State’s Attorney’s understanding of her powers. She started by saying she could only consider a completed investigation brought to her office. That was an inaccurate statement of the law. ==
I think you’re misreading the comment. State’s attorneys prosecute crimes based on investigations by law enforcement agencies. This doesn’t change her stance. It reiterates her role.
- Stephanie Kollmann - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 12:54 pm:
==State’s attorneys prosecute crimes based on investigations by law enforcement agencies==
And yet the Cook County State’s Attorney is budgeted for 2X the investigators of the public defender’s office. Curious.
I look forward to this unnecessary budget item being relocated to protect the rights of 3x the residents.
- Keyrock - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 1:00 pm:
I respectfully disagree, queenie. The comment in the Tribune last week, the quote in another article, https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-accountability-commission-refers-federal-agents-investigation-possible-prosecution-conduct-op-midway-blitz/19008040/
and the filing in the special prosecutor matter, all suggest that the State’s Attorney has no role until a police agency brings her a completed report.
Her office can work with a police agency to carry out an investigation. The office just can’t be the sole investigative agency.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, May 6, 26 @ 2:26 pm:
Again, The Cook County State’s Attorney seems to be doing everything she can to avoid bringing charges against ICE agents.
When a police officer was shot, we had charges the next day, even though police still do not seem to know how a gun got into the hospital.
Charges still have not been brought against the partner of Officer Krystal Rivera, even though bodycam footage shows he lied about shooting her in the back and then waited 90 seconds before rendering aid.
Please do not pretend that State’s Attorneys do not pick up the phone and ask police chiefs why they still do not have a complete investigation on a high profile crime, or what they can do to help compel withnesses to cooperate, or that law enforcement never rushes a report for a high profile case, or slow-walks an investigation they want to go away.
In case we have forgotten:
April 25, 2004 - Mayor Daley’s nephew assaults a man outside a chicago bar, killing him.
Jan, 2011 - In response to a FOiA from sun-times, CPD claims the investigation is still open. (Yes, for a death, seven years later)
March, 2011 - CPD officially closes investigation, stating Daley’s nephew hit David Koschman killing him, but it was “self-defense.”
March, 2011 - Anita Alvarez says Daley nephew got no special treatment.
April, 2012: Dan Webb appointed special prosecutor
December 2012: Vanecko charged by Webb with involuntary manslaughter.
January, 2014: Vanecko pleads guilty.
Worth noting that Webb said obstruction charges were not being brought against CPD or Cook County SA because “three year statute of limitations had expired.”
Also, the onlything that changed between 2004 and 2011 was public accountability and transparency.