Lead district attorney in ‘Broadview Six’ case resigns in intense letter to U.S. lawyer

News

Sheri Mecklenburg stated she was “retiring under demonstration” after U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros “personally directed” the pursuit of felony charges in the stopped working case versus anti-ICE protesters.

Sept. 25, 2026, 2:48 PM EDT

The district attorney charged with managing the Trump administration’s stopped working prosecutions of 6 anti-ICE protesters resigned today and implicated the U.S. lawyer in Chicago of interfering in the event, according to reports.

In a three-page letter acquired by the Chicago Tribune and other news outlets, Sheri Mecklenburg stated she was “retiring under demonstration” after U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in the Northern District of Illinois “personally directed” the pursuit of felony charges in the “Broadview Six” case, in which a half-dozen protesters were prosecuted for objecting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Broadview, Ill. All charges were dropped versus the protesters previously this year after federal district attorneys confessed to mistakes in the event.

Mecklenburg stated in the letter that Boutros pursued felony charges “over my objection that the case was much better fit to misdemeanor charges.”

The strongly-worded letter is the most recent debate for Boutros, a Trump appointee. He brought in criticism for his handling of the Broadview case, which started with the arrests of the half-dozen protesters– consisting of then-congressional prospect Kat Abughazaleh– in September 2025. District attorneys were implicated of incorrectly editing grand jury records and dismissing jurors who disagreed with the federal government’s case.

The federal judge commanding the case upbraided Boutros in courtinforming him, “I do think deeply in the anticipation of consistency which a lot of federal government lawyers are doing the very best they can to do the best thing. That trust has actually been broken.”

Mecklenburg’s letter, which is dated Thursday and was initially reported on Friday, is entitled “my forced retirement.” It declares that Boutros is attempting to blame the stopped working “Broadview Six” prosecution on her.

“You sent out an office-wide e-mail laying duty at my feet for a felony prosecution that you personally directed over my objection that the case was much better fit to misdemeanor charges,” she composed. “You then openly revealed an examination of my conduct covering twenty years.”

Mecklenburg’s retirement was initially revealed in a court filing from her lawyers on Thursday, in which they stated that “to the degree that Ms. Mecklenburg made errors [in the case]… she owns them,” consisting of engaging with 2 of the grand jurors outside the grand jury space. Mecklenburg’s lawyers stated those conversations were not pertinent to the case which she right away reported them to superiors.

Mecklenburg composed that her departure is not voluntary which she was delegating protect her health care advantages, which she would lose if she was fired. She stated she had actually been put on leave given that May, and was offered no composed description and “no significant chance to react before being openly condemned by you.”

“You have actually required me to select in between staying quiet while my expert credibility is ruined and too soon surrendering my treasured profession,” she continued. “I select the latter.”

In a declaration to MS NOW, a representative for the Justice Department declined Mecklenburg’s claim that she had actually been pressed to charge the protesters with felonies after arguing for misdemeanor charges, stating she recognized the felony as “the greatest charge” in composing.

Mecklenburg’s lawyer decreased to comment. A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago did not right away react to ask for remark from MS NOW on Friday.