据报道，负责监督特朗普政府对六名反移民及海关执法局（ICE）抗议者失败起诉工作的检察官于本周辞职，并指控芝加哥联邦检察官干预该案并将案件崩盘归咎于她。
The prosecutor tasked with overseeing the Trump administration’s failed prosecutions of six anti-ICE protesters resigned this week and accused the U.S. attorney in Chicago of interfering in the case and blaming her for its collapse, according to reports.
根据《芝加哥论坛报》和其他新闻媒体获得的一封三页信件，谢里·梅克伦堡（Sheri Mecklenburg）表示她是“抗议性退休”。此前，美国伊利诺伊州北区联邦检察官安德鲁·布特罗斯（Andrew Boutros）“亲自指示”在“布罗德维尤六人”（Broadview Six）案中对重罪指控进行追诉。在该案中，六名抗议者因在伊利诺伊州布罗德维尤的一处移民和海关执法局设施外抗议而被起诉。今年早些时候，在联邦检察官承认该案存在错误后，针对这些抗议者的所有指控均已被撤销。
In a three-page letter obtained by the Chicago Tribune and other news outlets, Sheri Mecklenburg said she was “retiring under protest” 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 protesting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill. All charges were dropped against the protesters earlier this year after federal prosecutors admitted to errors in the case.
梅克伦堡在信中表示，布特罗斯执意追究重罪指控，“而我曾反对，认为该案更适合以轻罪起诉”。这封措辞严厉的信件是特朗普任命的官员布特罗斯面临的最新争议。他对“布罗德维尤六人”案的处理方式招致了批评。该案始于2025年9月对六名抗议者的逮捕，其中包括时任国会候选人卡特·阿布加扎莱（Kat Abughazaleh）。检察官被指控不当地对大陪审团笔录进行脱密处理，并解雇了不同意政府立场的陪审员。
Mecklenburg said in the letter that Boutros pursued felony charges “over my objection that the case was better suited to misdemeanor charges.” The strongly-worded letter is the latest controversy for Boutros, a Trump appointee. He attracted criticism for his handling of the Broadview case, which began with the arrests of the half-dozen protesters — including then-congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh — in September 2025. Prosecutors were accused of improperly redacting grand jury transcripts and dismissing jurors who disagreed with the government’s case.
主审该案的联邦法官在法庭上严厉斥责了布特罗斯，对他说：“我确实深信程序正义的推定，且绝大多数政府律师都在尽最大努力做正确的事。但这种信任已经被打破了。”梅克伦堡的这封信落款日期为周四，并于周五首次被媒体报道，其标题为“我被迫退休”。信中指控布特罗斯试图将“布罗德维尤六人”起诉案的失败归咎于她。
The federal judge presiding over the case upbraided Boutros in court telling him, “I do believe deeply in the presumption of regularity and that most government attorneys are doing the best they can to do the right thing. That trust has been broken.” Mecklenburg’s letter, which is dated Thursday and was first reported on Friday, is titled “my forced retirement.” It alleges that Boutros is trying to blame the failed “Broadview Six” prosecution on her.
“你发送了一 向全办公室的电子邮件，将一项重罪起诉的责任推到我身上，而这项起诉是你不顾我的反对亲自推动的，我认为该案更适合以轻罪起诉，”她在信中写道。“随后，你公开宣布对我过去二十年的行为展开调查。”梅克伦堡的退休消息首次于周四通过其律师向法院提交的文件公开，文件中称“就梅克伦堡女士在该案中可能犯下的错误而言……她对此负责”，其中包括在大陪审团房间外与两名大陪审团成员进行交流。梅克伦堡的律师表示，这些讨论与案件无关，且她已立即向上级报告。
“You sent an office-wide email laying responsibility at my feet for a felony prosecution that you personally directed over my objection that the case was better suited to misdemeanor charges,” she wrote. “You then publicly announced an investigation of my conduct spanning twenty years.” Mecklenburg’s retirement was first made public in a court filing from her attorneys on Thursday, in which they said that “to the extent that Ms. Mecklenburg made mistakes [in the case]…she owns them,” including interacting with two of the grand jurors outside the grand jury room. Mecklenburg’s attorneys said those discussions were not relevant to the case and that she immediately reported them to superiors.
该文件还指出，梅克伦堡于二月从该案中退出，当时她离开芝加哥的职位，转任华盛顿特区的职务。文件称：“从那时起，她不再负责此案，未收到任何电子通知，也未被告知或以其他方式参与她离职后法院对任何大陪审团笔录或听证会进行的后续删节。”梅克伦堡周四提交的文件是在前被告方计划于不到一周后举行的听证会之前提交的，该听证会将审议多项动议，包括对检察官实施制裁及认定其犯有刑事藐视法庭罪。根据文件所述，梅克伦堡已提交介入动议，以就指控其存在检察官不当行为一事进行自我辩护——美国检察官办公室据称以解雇相威胁，禁止她采取这一行动。
The filing also notes that Mecklenburg withdrew from the case in February, when she left the post in Chicago for one in Washington, D.C. “From that point forward,” it states, “she was no longer assigned to this matter, received no electronic notifications, and was neither notified nor otherwise involved in the later redaction of any grand jury transcripts or hearings the Court held after her departure.” The Thursday filing from Mecklenburg came less than a week before a hearing is scheduled on multiple motions by the former defendants, including to sanction prosecutors and hold them in criminal contempt. Mecklenburg filed a motion to intervene in the case to defend herself from allegations of prosecutorial misconduct — a move that the U.S. Attorney’s Office allegedly prohibited under the threat of termination, according to the filing.
梅克伦堡在给布特罗斯的信中写道，她的离职并非自愿的，她之所以离开是为了保留自己的医疗福利——因为如果被解雇，这些福利就会丧失。她表示自己从五月份起就被安排休职，却没有收到任何书面解释，也没有得到任何“合理的回应机会”，就在此之后她遭到了布特罗斯的公开指责。
Mecklenburg wrote in her letter to Boutros that her departure is not voluntary and that she was leaving to preserve her healthcare benefits, which she would lose if she was fired. She said she had been placed on leave since May, and was given no written explanation and “no meaningful opportunity to respond before being publicly condemned by you.”
她继续写道：“你们迫使我必须在两种选择之间做出抉择：要么在职业声誉被毁掉的情况下保持沉默，要么提前放弃自己珍视的职业生涯。我选择了后者。”
“You have forced me to choose between remaining silent while my professional reputation is destroyed and prematurely surrendering my cherished career,” she continued. “I choose the latter.” In a statement to MS NOW, a spokesperson for the Justice Department rejected Mecklenburg’s claim that she had been pushed to charge the protesters with felonies after arguing for misdemeanor charges, saying she identified the felony as “the strongest charge” in writing.
在给 MS NOW 的一份声明中，司法部的发言人驳斥了梅克伦堡的说法，即她是在原本主张对抗议者提出轻罪指控后，才被迫提出重罪指控的；该发言人称，她是在书面文件中明确指出重罪指控才是“最合适的处理方式”。
Mecklenburg’s attorney declined to comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MS NOW on Friday.
梅克伦堡的律师拒绝置评。芝加哥联邦检察官办公室的发言人则没有立即回应 MS NOW 的采访请求。
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