Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, Demand Progress Education Fund and Common Cause Illinois asked the Illinois Supreme Court to investigate the alleged misconduct of the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois over their prosecution of the “Broadview Six” ICE protesters. In officially released court transcripts, a federal judge berated the office for what she warned were flagrant and improper actions during the grand jury proceedings.
On September 26, 2025, the "Broadview Six" activists were arrested while protesting outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview. In their letter, the groups warn that while prosecuting the protestors, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois may have engaged in wrongdoing that fatally tainted the grand jury process: unfairly "vouching" in support of the criminal charges that essentially tells the jurors to trust the government instead of the evidence, “improper” and “substantive” ex parte communications with the grand jury, improper removal of grand jurors who disagreed with the government’s case and then an effort to hide evidence of these actions. The letter calls for the Illinois Supreme Court's Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission to investigate U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and other federal prosecutors he supervised.
“It's no wonder the judge presiding over the Broadview Six prosecution said she was 'incredibly shocked' by what she saw in the grand jury transcripts and sounded the alarm. When federal prosecutors violate their ethical obligations to put their thumb on the scales of justice, they are ultimately betraying the public trust,” said Demand Progress Education Fund Special Advisor Kate Oh. “U.S. Attorney Boutros cannot make these allegations of misconduct under his watch go away by dismissing the case, which should not have been brought in the first place. The Illinois Supreme Court must investigate the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and hold them accountable.”
Jay Young, Common Cause’s Senior Policy Director for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, said, “The chief federal law enforcement officer in the Northern District of Illinois must hold himself and the attorneys under his supervision to the highest ethical standards. The transcripts of the grand jury proceedings and the disclosures that were made in Judge Perry’s courtroom show just how far short of the ethical standards he has fallen. The people of Illinois deserve better.”
“We are deeply troubled by the serious allegations of wrongdoing facing the Broadview Six prosecutors, the evidence for which prompted the presiding judge to excoriate them on the record and openly raise the possibility of sanctions for prosecutorial misconduct,” stated the letter. “If true as alleged, these prosecutors violated not only the defendants' basic rights but also their special duty to the public.”