House congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh is among six people who have been federally indicted on account of allegedly blocking vehicles outside of a federal immigration center during a protest in Broadview, Illinois.
The indictment, filed last week, argues Abughazaleh “physically hindered and impeded” an agent who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.”
The group of six is also accused of conspiring to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat” a federal law enforcement officer “from discharging the duties of his office” and to injure him “in his person or property.”
While none of the accused were arrested, they said in a court filing that they will self-surrender on Nov. 5.
Abughazaleh said in a statement that the indictment is “political persecution” and a “gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment.”
“As I and others exercised our First Amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and teargassed hundreds of protesters, myself included,” Abughazaleh said. “Simply because we had the gall to say masked men abducting our neighbors and terrorizing our community cannot be the new normal.”
Abughazaleh, 26, who is running to succeed retiring Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), said this is an example of the Trump administration’s “anti-democratic power grabs” and called the tactics to silence protests “unhinged and unlawful.”
“We have to remember that they are doing this because they are scared,” the congressional candidate said. “They know that history will not be on their side. We cannot diminish ourselves in the face of these tactics; it’s time to unite and show up for humanity, for our rights, for everyone terrorized by Trump’s lawless secret police.”
“I’ve spent my career fighting America’s backwards slide towards fascism, and I’m not going to give up now. I hope you won’t either,” she added.
Abughazaleh is one of several progressive grassroots candidates seeking to shake up the status quo on Capitol Hill after the Democrats’ 2024 losses. She launched a primary bid against Schakowsky, 81, before the elder congresswoman decided to retire in April.
The immigration facility in Broadview, a Chicago suburb, has become a frequent protest ground for activists who are pushing back against the growing presence of immigration officials, at one point creating a “First Amendment” zone to safely organize.
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In early October, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against law enforcement to restrict officials from shooting pepper balls or throwing tear gas into a crowd, especially without warning.
Broadview’s mayor, Katrina Thompson, has also restricted hours for protesting to protect the suburb’s residents, as clashes between protesters and immigration officials have resulted in numerous arrests and federal court challenges.
