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A progressive democratic candidates The House of Representatives and several other Chicago officials face federal charges following protests outside the House Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility It has emerged as a flashpoint for demonstrations against Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Kat Abughazaleh, now a former journalist Running for a House seat in IllinoisFaces one count of conspiracy and one charge alleging he “forcibly obstructed, intimidated and interfered” with an officer.
The grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Abughazaleh and five other defendants, some of whom are involved in Chicago politics, of “aggressively” ramming a federal agent’s car, forcing the officer to drive “extremely slowly” and scrawling the word “PIG” on the vehicle.
The charges – one of the most serious charges ever brought against protesters Under Trump’s Justice Department If found guilty, the punishment can be up to six years in prison for conspiracy and up to eight years in prison for assault.
“This is a political prosecution and a blatant attempt to silence dissent, which is a right protected under the First Amendment,” Abughazaleh said on social media after the indictment was revealed.
Abughazaleh, who is vowing to fight the “unjust charges” against him, said the Trump administration has sought to “criminalize dissent and punish anyone who speaks out against them.”
Abughazaleh, 26, worked for the right-wing media watchdog Media Matters before entering the House race for Illinois’s 9th District, which includes parts of Chicago and its suburbs.
She joins hundreds of protesters Outside the Broadview ICE Detention Center As the Trump administration dispatched federal law enforcement officers and the National Guard to Illinois.
Videos of his interactions with officers at the scene – including incidents where he was thrown to the ground and struck in the face with batons – have been widely shared on social media, including with the Department of Homeland Security.
In A video of 19 SeptemberA masked, heavily armed and armed officer in military uniform is seen grabbing Abugazaleh before throwing him to the ground.
“Individuals and groups that obstruct ICE operations are siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals,” DHS wrote in response to the X.
In the second video of 26 SeptemberAbugazaleh and dozens of other protesters are seen holding on to the front of an SUV as it plows into a crowd standing on the street outside the Broadview facilities.
“At the Broadview ICE facility, an ICE agent tried to run over dozens of protesters with an SUV as we walked across the public crosswalk,” he wrote at the time. “He drove almost the entire football field until ICE fired pepper balls at us.”
That incident appears to be at the heart of the charges against him.
The indictment — which also names Cook County Board candidate Cat Sharp and Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbitt — claims the group conspired “with each other and known and unknown others to use force, intimidation, and threats to defraud or defraud the people of their property in order to defraud, obstruct, or interfere with the discharge of their official duties.”
According to the indictment, Abugazaleh placed his “hands on the hood” and “exposed his body and hands to the front of the vehicle, while remaining directly in the path of the vehicle, blocking and obstructing the officer who was driving”.
Sharp described the allegations as “ridiculous”.
“This is a scary moment,” he said in a statement.
“But I want you to know that I am confident that a jury of my peers will see these charges for exactly what they are — another attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate people from attending protests and exercising their First Amendment rights,” she said.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who has protested with Abughazaleh outside the Broadview facility and is also running for the congressional seat currently held by Representative Jan Schakowsky, condemned the impeachment against his opponent.
“The only people engaging in violent and dangerous behavior at Broadview are ICE,” he said.
State Senator Laura Fine, who is also running against Biss and Abughazaleh, called the charges “partisan and immoral.”
Fine said, “This unjust prosecution is an attempt to intimidate and silence people who are standing up for their rights and beliefs.” “This is an attack on anyone offended by masked people roaming our streets and our neighbors being pushed into unmarked cars. This is a threat to anyone who wants to call it what it is: creeping tyranny.”
The charges follow weeks of demonstrations and daily scenes of masked officers in the Chicago area knocking people to the ground And Surrounding the surrounding areas with tear gas Despite a court order that prevents ICE and Border Patrol agents from Indiscriminate use of force against protesters and members of the press.
has a federal judge issued a court order Prohibiting officers from using riot control weapons such as tear gas and pepper balls without warning. The order specifically prohibits officers from firing weapons that “strike a woman’s head, neck, waist, spine, or breast, or strike a person with a vehicle,” as well as “pulling a person to the ground or pushing, tackling, or body-slamming” protesters who are not harming others.