Pritzker calls for criminal investigations into ICE agents over ‘Midway Blitz’ conduct
Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is urging state officials to pursue criminal investigations into federal immigration enforcement agents involved in Operation Midway Blitz, citing a report released by a commission he created to investigate federal agents' conduct during the months-long investigation.
Pritzker’s Thursday press conference unveiling the Illinois Accountability Commission’s recommendation to pursue criminal investigations into ICE and other federal agents came just over a month after he first vowed to seek criminal charges against Trump administration officials and law enforcement officers he said had "broken the law."
"Our communities and our people were subjected to an unprecedented campaign of harassment, intimidation and brutality," Pritzker said at the news conference. "They deployed tear gas and smoke grenades against peaceful protesters and peaceful crowds and in peaceful neighborhoods. They committed flagrant and egregious abuses of power and force that went unchecked."
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The report was compiled by eight members who were appointed to the commission by Pritzker. Members of the commission include retired judges, a retired law enforcement official, former prosecutors and a nonprofit leader. The report pinpointed more than a dozen incidents involving federal agents as alleged instances of misconduct that warrant further investigation, including the death of Silverio Villegas González, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was shot and killed by ICE agents.
The more than 150-page report accused the Trump administration of lying about the motivation behind Operation Midway Blitz and that it "distorted key facts about events involving federal immigration agents."
"High-level White House, DHS and other federal officials enabled and encouraged misconduct by ICE and CBP agents during Operation Midway Blitz by urging agents to ‘go hard,’ defending and mischaracterizing incidents of use of force, shielding agents from accountability, lifting safeguards, and effectuating harmful policies," the report alleged.
The report alleged that federal agents engaged in "unconstitutional uses of force" which consisted of "extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings, and other violent acts."
"Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement," Department of Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. "Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed Sheridan Gorman's killer to be released from jail to go on and commit her heinous murder?"
Bis slammed Pritzker's calls for criminal prosecution as "nothing more than a political stunt."
"Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies," Bis said. "The states do not have the authority to run such an investigation."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General for comment.