Jonathan Manes on Government Transparency

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Jonathan Manes

Role at the time: Attorney for the Villegas González family, MacArthur Justice Center

September 8, 2026Condemned

Statement summary

Family attorney Jonathan Manes told ABC7 Chicago that speed can matter in investigations like this one, warning that evidence, witnesses and video can disappear if they are not gathered soon. ABC7 paired the remark with its report that the Illinois State Police investigation began in May 2026, nearly eight months after the shooting. ABC7 also reported, citing Manes, that the family is planning to sue the U.S. government over the death.

“In these kinds of investigations, speed can matter. Evidence, witnesses, eyewitnesses, video. These sorts of things can disappear if you don't get them soon.”

Open sourceFamily fights for accountability nearly 1 year after deadly ICE shooting in Franklin ParkJonathan Manes quotation on investigative speed, after the report on the Illinois State Police investigation

ABC7 Chicago (WLS-TV) I-Team report published nearly a year after the shooting. It reports, citing family attorney Jonathan Manes of the MacArthur Justice Center, that the family is planning to sue the U.S. government over the death, and quotes Manes on the forensic evidence, the unnamed agent who fired and the risk that evidence and witnesses are lost when an investigation is slow.

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Why we used this label

Manes speaks for a family that, according to ABC7, is planning to sue the U.S. government over the death. He warns that evidence and witnesses can be lost when investigators do not act quickly, a remark ABC7 placed after reporting that the state investigation began nearly eight months after the shooting. The statement faults the delay in investigating the killing as part of the family's push for accountability for the death.

Read statement Was ICE justified in fatally shooting Silverio Villegas González?

Jonathan Manes on Government Transparency

Statement history

Condemned