On Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against six protesters—including 26-year-old Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh—for allegedly impeding an ICE officer outside of a federal immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois. The move is a stunning continuation of Trump’s weaponization of judicial and police power to crush dissent.
“This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them.”
Abughazaleh, a former Mother Jones video creator, is running a progressive campaign for the House seat currently held by 81-year-old Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky. In recent months, she has been an outspoken participant at anti-ICE protests sweeping Chicago. One viral video in September showed Abughazaleh being slammed to the ground by a masked ICE agent.
In addition to Abughazaleh, the indictment names several other local Democratic leaders: Michael Rabbitt, Democratic committeeman in the 45th Ward in Chicago; Catherine Sharp, who is running for a seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and currently serves as chief of staff for Chicago Alderperson Andre Vasquez (40th Ward); and Brian Straw, a trustee for the village of Oak Park.
All of the defendants are charged with both interfering with a federal law enforcement officer and conspiring to impede or injure federal officers during a protest on September 23.
The alleged conspiracy includes actions such as “bang[ing] aggressively” on an ICE agent’s vehicle and “etching a message into the body of the vehicle, specifically the word ‘PIG.’” The indictment also claims the defendants “physically hindered and impeded” an ICE agent such that the vehicle was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.”
Abughazaleh called the indictment from the Trump administration an attempt to stop anti-ICE protests. “This is a political prosecution, and a gross attempt to silence dissent,” Abughazaleh said in a video posted on her Instagram. “This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them.”
Others indicted had similar messages. “I am confident that a jury of my peers will see these charges for exactly what they are—another effort by the Trump administration to frighten people out of participating in protest and exercising their First Amendment rights,” said Sharp in a written statement. “As long as ICE is terrorizing members of our community and disregarding due process, I believe we must continue to speak out. I’m proud of my work organizing in our neighborhoods to keep our immigrant neighbors safe from harm.”
Trump’s DOJ has levied similar federal conspiracy charges against other prominent anti-ICE protesters in recent months.
Prosecutors brought a conspiracy charge against California labor leader David Huerta in Los Angeles, which was later reduced to a misdemeanor. Bajun “Baji” Mavalwalla II, a 35-year-old army veteran who served in Afghanistan, was charged with “conspiracy to impede or injure officers” at an anti-ICE protest in Spokane, Washington. On Wednesday, in addition to Abughazaleh’s indictment, the DOJ announced ten more arrests related to anti-ICE protests in Southern California, including two protesters charged with committing a conspiracy.
“I joined the protests at the Broadview ICE detention facility because of what is happening to our immigrant neighbors,” Straw said in a written statement. “The Trump Justice Department’s decision to seemingly hand-pick public officials like me for standing up against these inhumane policies will not deter me from fulfilling my oath of office.”
