Police and federal agents cordon off the scene after two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents killed Silverio Villegas González on September 12, 2025 in Franklin Park, Illinois. Credit: Steve Held

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has failed in her duty to investigate federal agents who violated the law, according to a new lawsuit filed in Cook County on Friday.

The petition asks the court to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate federal agents’ “unlawful conduct” and to pursue both civil and criminal remedies.

The lawsuit points to several examples of potentially unlawful acts committed by federal agents where Burke’s office has taken no action, such as a warrantless raid on a South Shore apartments building, the killing of Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, and the shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago.

Burke’s failure to investigate individual agents’ deeds is either because she is “absent” or lacks the resources to do so, according to the petition.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of two more killings by federal agents in Minneapolis. On January 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good. Then, on January 24, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez fatally shot Alex Pretti, also 37 years old. Unlike officials in Illinois, Minnesota’s state and local authorities went to court to ensure the preservation of evidence for local investigators.

The lawsuit argues that state prosecutors can hold federal officials accountable when their actions are not “reasonable.” According to the petition, the Supreme Court of the United States “has held that the Supremacy Clause cloaks federal agents with immunity if they act reasonably in carrying out their responsibilities.” [emphasis in original]

Attorney Sheryl Weikal filed the lawsuit against Burke in the Circuit Court of Cook County on Friday.

Weikal says she is pursuing legal action because Burke’s office has not investigated “pretty straightforward crimes” committed by federal agents during the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Operation Midway Blitz.”

“Clearly, her office is absent for purposes of prosecuting these crimes,” said Weikal. “The alternative to her office prosecuting these crimes, would be nothing happens. We have people who are literally killing people and doing home invasions, and nothing is happening.”

The lawsuit lays out several high-profile incidents in the Chicago area since the start of Operation Midway Blitz that deserve further investigation.

On September 12, 2025, two ICE agents attempted to stop 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park, Illinois, just west of Chicago, shortly after he dropped his children off at school and daycare. DHS then claimed that Villegas González struck an agent with his car and dragged him, leading the agent to fire his weapon.

A federal agent on the scene, shortly after ICE agents killed Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park on September 12, 2025. Credit: Steve Held

Much like with the recent executions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in the Twin Cities, DHS’s story quickly fell apart as video evidence from eyewitnesses and police body cameras emerged.

Weikal points to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Offices’ lawsuit in Minnesota to preserve evidence after Alex Pretti was killed as an example of actions that could have been taken by Burke after the killing of Villegas González. On Saturday, January 24, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring federal officials from destroying or altering evidence related to Pretti’s killing.

“After the killing of Alex Pretti, there was an action brought to preserve that evidence that didn’t happen here…even though the state’s attorney has authority to bring that kind of case, that didn’t happen,” said Weikal.

Following the fatal shooting of Villegas González’, officers from the Franklin Park Police Department were first to arrive. Body-worn camera videos obtained from the department show a confused scene, as local police officers and federal agents were unsure about who was responsible for collecting evidence and witness accounts.

The FBI is reportedly investigating the fatal shooting. Governor JB Pritzker has criticized a lack of transparency in their investigation so far.

Just weeks after the fatal shooting of Villegas González, on October 4, 2025, Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum jumped out of his vehicle and shot Marimar Martinez five times in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood.

Exum had claimed Martinez rammed her car into them, but he was allowed to leave the scene with his vehicle, which he drove back to his home state of Maine—where marks on the vehicle were allegedly buffed out.

The U.S. attorney’s office in South Bend, Indiana is reportedly investigating the shooting.

In another incident cited in the lawsuit, on September 20, 2025, federal agents staged a dramatic operation at the South Shore Apartments in the middle of the night, including federal agents rappelling from Blackhawk helicopters onto the building.

Federal agents broke down doors, pointed firearms at residents, and detained 37 people—all without a judicial warrant. No criminal charges have since been filed.

In January it was revealed that Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a memo on May 12, 2025, authorizing ICE agents to enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant. Another lawsuit, filed by immigrant rights organizations in Boston, argues that the guidance clearly violates the Fourth Amendment.

Police have filed misdemeanor battery charges against one ICE officer, albeit for his conduct off-duty. ICE officer Adam Saracco is accused of attacking attorney Robert Held, 68, who was filming the agent at a gas station in west suburban Brookfield in December.

Burke’s office declined to charge the agent with a felony.

Border Patrol agents in the Brighton Park neighborhood after CBP Agent Charles Exum shot resident Marimar Martinez on October 4, 2025. Credit: Steve Held

Under Illinois law, a court may appoint a special prosecutor when the State’s Attorney is “sick, absent, or unable to fulfill the State’s Attorney’s duties.” The most recent local precedent Weikal points to is the 2019 judicial appointment of a special prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett case. In that case, a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handling of the case amid potential conflicts of interest.

Burke’s office did not respond to our request for comment.

On Friday, Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order requiring the Chicago Police to collect and retain evidence of interactions with federal immigration agents so that it can be referred to Burke’s office “for potential prosecution.”

Burke’s office immediately publicly responded on X to deny Johnson’s assertion that her office supported the order.

Asked what prompted her to take on this issue, Weikal said the failure to impose consequences on agents who do not fear consequences is a ”threat to the administration of any justice at all.”

“I am doing this because I believe so long as we have a system where people are being prosecuted for petty theft and not for killing someone on the street, in broad daylight on camera, we have a system that is too broken to continue to function. It would essentially render all of our law licenses meaningless,” said Weikal.

“I think it would be a violation of my oath to the Constitution not to do something like this.”

Note: The author is not related to Robert Held.

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