A federal grand jury has indicted Illinois progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh for allegedly assaulting and conspiring to injure law enforcement during a protest last month at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago.
Abughazaleh and five others were charged with felony offenses for their alleged involvement in a skirmish with law enforcement that later went viral on social media outside of the facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Abughazaleh, 26, posted a video on social media Wednesday responding to the indictment, in which she proclaimed her innocence.
"This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights," Abughazaleh said. "I’m not backing down, and we're going to win."
The indictment alleges Abughazaleh conspired with others to impede a law enforcement officer from carrying out his duties on Sept. 26 by surrounding his vehicle and banging "aggressively" to prevent it from moving outside of the Broadview facility's staging area.
It further alleges Abughazaleh hindered the officer when she joined a crowd at the front of the vehicle and "braced her body and hands against the vehicle while remaining directly in the path of the vehicle."
Others charged in the indictment include Catherine Sharp, who is running for a seat on the Cook County Board. Sharp said she is "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."
Brian Straw, a candidate for Oak Park Village trustee who was also charged, said he will "fight these baseless charges."
"I joined the protests at the Broadview ICE detention facility because of what is happening to our immigrant neighbors: children zip-tied and shoved into vans, mothers pulled from cars on the way to school, neighbors afraid to go to church or work," he said in a 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."
The indictment was filed on Oct. 23 before being unsealed on Wednesday. The court set an initial appearance and arraignment for Nov. 5.
The Department of Justice said the defendants were "among a crowd of people who surrounded a government vehicle with the intent to hinder and impede" the federal agent from driving to the Broadview ICE facility.
"The defendants and others allegedly crowded together in the front and side of the government vehicle, stood in its path, banged on the car and windows, and pushed against it to hinder and impede its movement," the DOJ said in a press release. "The conspirators broke one of the vehicle's side mirrors and the rear windshield wiper and etched a derogatory message into the body of the vehicle, the indictment states."
The word "PIG" was etched into the vehicle, according to the indictment, which did not name a specific person who allegedly committed the act.
"All federal officials must be able to discharge the duties of their office without confronting force, intimidation, or threats," Andrew Boutros, the U.S attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement. "As we have warned repeatedly, we will seek to hold accountable those who cross the line from peaceful protests to unlawful actions or conspiracies that interrupt, hinder, or impede the due administration of Justice."
Abughazaleh has posted multiple videos of her joining protests outside of the facility, including one on Sept. 19 that showed her being thrown to the ground by an ICE officer.
In another post on Sept. 26 -- the date of the incident cited in the indictment -- she posted a video of a crowd in front of a vehicle and said an "ICE agent tried to run dozens of protesters over with an SUV as we walked on a public crosswalk."
"He kept driving for about a full football field until ICE barraged us with pepper balls," she continued.
The videos have led to calls from right-wing activists such as Laura Loomer to have the DOJ arrest Abughazaleh and others who joined in the protests.
Abughazaleh is running for Illinois' 9th Congressional District, which includes parts of Chicago. Rep. Janice Schakowsky, who currently holds the seat, has said she does not plan to seek reelection in 2026.
Abughazaleh, who has a background in journalism, announced her campaign for Congress in March, saying the Democratic Party needs a "makeover" and a "vision that's bigger than what we've been told is possible."