Illinois Gov. Pritzker Urges Criminal Probes of ICE Agents in Operation Midway Blitz

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker urged state officials to pursue criminal investigations into federal immigration enforcement agents involved in Operation Midway Blitz. He cited a report from a commission he created to examine federal agents' conduct during the months-long operation.

Pritzker made the comments at a Thursday press conference where he unveiled the Illinois Accountability Commission's recommendation. The push came just over a month after he first vowed to seek criminal charges against Trump administration officials and law enforcement officers he accused of breaking the law.

"Our communities and our people were subjected to an unprecedented campaign of harassment, intimidation and brutality," Pritzker said. "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."

The report came from eight members appointed by Pritzker, including retired judges, a retired law enforcement official, former prosecutors and a nonprofit leader. It identified more than a dozen incidents of alleged misconduct by federal agents that warrant further investigation. Those included the death of Silverio Villegas González, an illegal immigrant from Mexico shot and killed by ICE agents.

The more than 150-page report accused the Trump administration of lying about the motivation for Operation Midway Blitz and distorting 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 claimed federal agents engaged in "unconstitutional uses of force," including extreme physical force, indiscriminate use of chemical agents, shootings, beatings and other violent acts.

Department of Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis criticized Pritzker. "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," she 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 called Pritzker's push for criminal prosecution "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.