Congressional Candidate Kat Abughazaleh Charged By Feds for Protesting, Says “I’m Not Backing Down”
The Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to intimidate anyone who opposes its fascist agenda.
The Department of Justice is charging Congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and five others with conspiracy to impede a U.S. law enforcement officer and impeding a U.S. law enforcement officer.
Abughazaleh is running in the Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw and 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson Michael Rabbitt were also charged in the indictment, along with Catherine Sharp, the chief of staff to Alderman Andre Vasquez and a candidate for the Cook County Board.
The indictment was unsealed yesterday.
“I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice,” Abughazaleh posted on X. “This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.”
Prosecutors allege that on September 26, the six people indicted were among a crowd of protesters attempting to prevent a federal agent from entering an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois.
In the Department of Justice (DOJ) press release announcing the indictments, the agency shared a link to a four-minute video which shows a large crowd of people surrounding a black vehicle, with some banging on it. Several people are at the front of the vehicle, pushing it with their hands.
The indictment states that the six indicted “and others” broke one of the vehicle’s side mirrors and the rear windshield wiper, and etched “pig” into the vehicle. The video does not depict any of these actions.
At about the three-minute mark, a protester yells, “Pepper spray!” The protesters disperse, with some coughing, and the vehicle — which has a pink stuffed animal on its roof — drives through the gates.
(The Carceral Report is not sharing the video as DOJ linked to it in its press release, stating, “If you recognize other individuals in the video who may be impeding law enforcement, you are encouraged to contact the FBI Chicago Field Office.”)
Abughazaleh says they are being charged “for exercising our First Amendment rights.”
“This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment,” she said in a video posted to X. “This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them.”
In September, the Trump administration launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” in Chicago — and were met with fierce resistance by residents.
“ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and teargassed hundreds of protesters simply because we had the gall to say that masked men coming into our communities, abducting our neighbors and terrorizing us cannot be our new normal,” Abughazaleh said in the video.
The Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to intimidate anyone who opposes its fascist agenda.
Just this month, administration officials made multiple threats against Democratic lawmakers.
After U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stated that federal agents who violate state laws can be prosecuted, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), Attorney General of California Rob Bonta, Pelosi, and Jenkins, stating, in part, “We urge you and other California officials to publicly abandon this apparent criminal conspiracy, to stop threatening law enforcement, and to prioritize the safety of your citizens.”
Blanche posted the letter to X, writing: “California politicians want to arrest federal agents for enforcing federal law. We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution. No one threatens our agents. No one will stop us from Making America Safe Again.”
He then shared his initial post and wrote, “Careful, @GovPritzker - this applies to you too.”
Blanche was previously President Donald Trump’s personal attorney. Last year, he defended Trump in his criminal trial in New York. Trump was convicted on all 34 counts.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem made a similar threat this month. Rep. Rob Garcia (D-California) announced plans to create a website to track and document incidents of misconduct committed by ICE agents.
In response to Garcia’s announcement, Noem posted on social media that the website would be “a pipeline that will funnel information on American law enforcement directly into the hands of anarchists, domestic terrorists, and cartel members.”
She continued, “I am working with @AGPamBondi to ensure that ANY individual who doxxes, threatens, or assaults our law enforcement officers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Noem has also equated filming law enforcement — which is protected by the First Amendment — with violence.
Abughazaleh closed her video with a call to action and solidarity, saying, “we have to unite and stand up for humanity, our rights and everyone terrorized by Trump’s lawless secret police.”
“You’ll be hearing regular updates directly from me about this case and how we can use our constitutional rights to resist authoritarianism,” she continued. “As scary as all of this is, I have spent my career fighting America’s backslide into fascism. I’m not going to stop now.”
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