Cook County Commissioner William Beavers’ defense attorneys are saying the juror pool for his tax evasion trial is “rigged.”

Of the randomly-selected 50 potential jurors that were subject to questioning by U.S. District Judge James Zagel yesterday, there was not one African-American male in the group. Zagel, who made it through 24 jurors during questioning in order to select 12 who will sit for the trial, will continue questioning today.

“I’ve been trying cases down here 52 years. I have never seen a case where I represented a black (male) defendant and they sent out 50 jurors, 50! 50 jurors! And not one single black man,” said Sam Adam Sr. outside the courtroom. “Now don’t tell me that was an accident.”

Beavers defense team requested the juror pool be dismissed, but Zagel denied the request and instead told prosecutors and defense attorneys to discuss the juror selection process with the U.S. Clerk’s office for the Northern District of Illinois to confirm proper procedures were followed.

“What are they gonna say? We did it on purpose? … This was all rigged some place,” said Adam, confirming attorneys plan to proceed with the jurors that were already selected. “Some place in this so-called federal system, this was all rigged.”

Beavers, 78, an African-American former Chicago cop and South Side alderman, is accused of siphoning $226,000 over a three-year period from his campaign fund for personal use, including gambling. He is alleged to have used more than $68,000 in campaign funds to increase his council pension, according to the indictment.

UPDATE 1 (12:45 p.m.): U.S. District Judge James Zagel has issued a gag order on the attorneys on the case, incluing Cook County Commissioner William Beavers’ defense attorneys, Sam Adam Sr., Sam Adam Jr. and Victor Henderson. Zagel said public statements from attorneys during a trial “frequently distracts the lawyers from the purpose of the case.”

“When I say statements, I mean no statement … not until the trial is over,” Zagel said sternly, according to CBS.