Overview
- The state’s attorney’s office, which filed its response Tuesday in Judge Erica Reddick’s courtroom, asked the court to deny the petition and set the next hearing for April 10.
- Eileen O’Neill Burke called the request “baseless” and a “heavy‑handed” attempt to override her elected discretion, arguing a 2017 Illinois Supreme Court ruling limits her office’s power to launch its own criminal probes.
- Petitioners led by Loevy & Loevy, a coalition of nearly 250 officials, clergy, groups and residents, allege crimes during Operation Midway Blitz and point to the killing of Silverio Villegas González and the shooting of Marimar Martinez.
- Coalition lawyers say she has ignored clear crimes and insist a special prosecutor can investigate and charge, while O’Neill Burke says any case must come from law enforcement agencies that collect and vet the evidence.
- Prosecuting on‑duty federal agents in state court is rare and would require showing they acted unreasonably during their duties, and O’Neill Burke also criticized the petitioners for a federal case that ended with a vacated order after a voluntary dismissal.