Progressive House congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh has been indicted on federal charges stemming from protests outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside Chicago.
The former journalist now running as a Democrat in Illinois’ 9th District was charged with two counts: conspiracy to impede or injure an ICE officer, and assaulting or impeding that officer while he was engaged in his official duties.
The indictment specifically accuses Abughazaleh, among others, of banging aggressively on the windows, hood and other areas of the agent’s car, pushing against it to “hinder and impede its movement” and etching the word “PIG” on the car.
The indictment names five other defendants, most of whom appear to be involved in progressive politics in Chicago. They include Cook County Democratic Committee member Michael Rabbitt and Cat Sharp, who’s a candidate for Cook County Board of Commissioners and chief of staff to Alderperson Andre Vasquez.
The charges — among the most serious recently brought against prominent protesters — carry prison sentences of up to six years on the conspiracy count and eight years for assaulting the officer, upon conviction.
Over the past month, as videos of protests, arrests and aggressive immigration enforcement raids have gone viral — and as right-wing politicians and influencers have beaten the drum for an even more aggressive response — federal law enforcement officials have prioritized the arrest and prosecution of individuals they claim are interfering with the crackdown.
Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Palestinian American seen as a rising star in progressive politics, has been one of hundreds of protesters regularly gathered outside the Broadview ICE detention facility since ICE ramped up enforcement efforts in Chicago. Protesters there are calling for ICE to stop raids, release detainees and close the facility. The protests have become a central focus of Abughazaleh’s campaign.
Abughazaleh called the charges “political prosecution” and a “gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment,” themes that Sharp echoed in her own statement.
“I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win,” Abughazaleh wrote on X.
Videos of Abughazaleh’s interactions with federal agents have attracted attention from MAGA politicians and influencers who have called for her arrest. One video from Sept. 19 shows Abughazaleh being thrown to the ground by an ICE agent.
In the video, Abughazaleh is protesting outside the Broadview facility when federal agents, one saying, “Do not block the driveway,” walk toward protesters. One grabs Abughazaleh, drags her back and drops her onto the pavement.
On a video posted Sept. 26, an ICE vehicle inches through a group of protesters standing on the street outside the facility. Posting the video to her social accounts, Abughazaleh wrote, “At the Broadview ICE facility, 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.”
Right-wing influencers leapt on Abughazaleh’s videos to call for her arrest and prosecution.
“I love watching communists get body slammed by ICE,” conspiracy theorist and unofficial Trump adviser Laura Loomer wrote on X.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham praised the ICE agents on her show, saying “Good work.” Other accounts that have been influential in attracting attention from the Trump administration called for Abughazaleh’s arrest, many tagging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Department of Homeland Security posted the video in which an agent threw Abughazaleh down, and captioned it: “Individuals and groups impeding ICE operations are siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals.”
Late last month, Bondi directed federal agencies to “defend” ICE facilities in Portland and Chicago, and promised aggressive arrests and prosecutions.
“The Department of Justice will seek the most serious available charges against all participants in these criminal mobs, including conspiracy offenses, assault offenses, civil disorder offenses, and terrorism offenses,” Bondi posted on X.
For weeks, immigration enforcement operations in Chicago by federal Border Patrol and ICE agents have been captured on videos posted to social media. Those videos and news reports have documented repeated clashes between agents and Chicago residents where force, including tear gas and pepper balls, have been deployed by agents.
At least one Chicago elementary school has been forced to lock down because of ICE activities, and a children’s costume parade had to be canceled over the weekend after an immigration enforcement raid in a residential neighborhood.
ICE enforcement actions and the use of force during protests have been the subject of legal challenges. In one case, Judge Sara Ellis of the Northern District of Illinois ordered Border Patrol official Greg Bovino to report to the court daily on whether agents are enforcing the law within constitutional bounds.
Earlier this month, Ellis, voicing concerns about the conduct of federal agents, issued a temporary restraining order requiring agents to wear badges and cameras, and prohibiting the use of tear gas on journalists and protesters who are not a threat.
The Trump administration’s surge of ICE officials into Chicago has drawn criticism from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker. President Donald Trump has called for both to be jailed for “failing to protect” federal agents.
Lisa Rubin is MS NOW's senior legal reporter and a former litigator.
Brandy Zadrozny is a senior enterprise reporter for MS NOW. She was a previously a senior enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York.