More than 100 Illinois officials on Thursday condemned the federal indictment of a progressive congressional candidate in the state and five others tied to protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in a suburb near Chicago.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and six U.S. representatives for the state were among those who signed on to the open letter that said the charges against several political candidates and officials were meant to “scare all of us into staying quiet.”
“The politicization of our justice system crosses a fundamental line that should alarm anyone who cares about democracy and the rule of law,” the letter reads. “This is not what democracy looks like, and we cannot accept it as normal.”
The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, charged 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a social media influencer and congressional candidate in Illinois’s 9th District, with conspiring to impede or injure an ICE officer and an assault count.
She’s charged alongside Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic committeeperson in Chicago’s 45th Ward; Catherine Sharp, who is running to sit on the Cook County Board of Commissioners; Brian Straw, a member of the village board in suburban Oak Park; Andre Martin, Abughazaleh ’s campaign field director; and Joselyn Walsh.
The defendants — dubbed in the letter as the “Broadview 6,” after the suburb where the ICE facility is located — are accused of having “surrounded” an ICE officer’s vehicle on Sept. 26 as he attempted to reach the facility. The facility has become the focus of protests in the area.
The group allegedly “banged aggressively” on the government vehicle and pushed against it to impede its movement. They etched the message “PIG” into the body of the car and broke both a mirror and a windshield wiper, the indictment says.
The Illinois officials said the indictment follows a “disturbing national pattern,” as exemplified by charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) stemming from an oversight visit to an ICE facility and by the prosecutions of Trump foes including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).
“Federal prosecutors are being weaponized to punish political opponents and silence dissent,” reads the letter, which asserts that the six defendants are being prosecuted for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The six House members who signed the letter are Illinois Democratic Reps. Robin Kelly, Delia Ramirez, Jesús “Chuy” García, Mike Quigley, Sean Casten and Jan Schakowsky.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a U.S. Senate candidate, also signed the letter. Kelly is also running to fill Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) seat. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), another candidate in the race, was later added as as a signatory. His spokesperson said he was initially left off “in error.”
Abughazaleh is running for Schakowsky’s seat after the longtime congresswoman said she would not run for another term.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly, Chicago City Council, Cook County Board and Chicago Public Schools Board of Education also signed onto the letter.
Updated at 8:20 p.m. EDT
