A congressional candidate in Illinois has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Kat Abughazaleh, a social media influencer and pseudo-journalist running in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, is accused of repeatedly standing in front of federal vehicles and interfering with ICE agents during protests outside the agency’s Broadview, Ill., detention facility.
Abughazaleh is one of six individuals charged in connection with the demonstrations, which have continued for several weeks.
The indictment, which was filed on October 23, alleges that 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.”
Abughazaleh was charged along with five other individuals involved in the riots, including two other political candidates.
The Broadview ICE facility has been the site of repeated demonstrations and clashes involving far-left activists. Several Democratic candidates for the open House seat in Chicago — including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Abughazaleh — have recorded themselves participating in protests that involved blocking ICE vehicles.
Other demonstrators have engaged in more aggressive actions, including throwing rocks at federal vehicles, slashing tires, and confronting agents during near-daily disturbances outside the facility.
Federal officers responded with crowd-control measures such as pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets, though they were initially outnumbered until additional federal personnel and National Guard reinforcements were deployed.
In a video posted on X on September 26, Abughazaleh proudly spoke about how she and numerous other protesters obstructed a moving ICE vehicle, preventing it from advancing. “Up, up with liberation,” the mob could be heard chanting as she stood at the front of the group.
“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,” the far-left congressional candidate captioned the video.
The indictment alleges that the group “conspired with one another and others, known and unknown, to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat, Agent A, a United States law enforcement officer, from discharging the duties of his office, and to injure him in his person or property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his office, and while engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, and to injure his property so as to interrupt, hinder, and impede him in the discharge of his official duties.”
According to a court filing, none of the defendants have been taken into custody and will be permitted to self-surrender on Wednesday, November 5. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge April M. Perry, a Biden appointee.
Abughazaleh faces one count of conspiracy and a second charge alleging that she “forcibly impeded, intimidated, and interfered” with a federal agent in the performance of official duties, the indictment reads.
“This is a political prosecution, and a gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment. This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted in May for allegedly obstructing federal agents during a visit to an immigration facility.
McIver was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts, including assaulting and interfering with officers during a May 9 incident at the Delaney Hall Immigration Facility in Newark.
McIver and two other lawmakers said they were conducting an official oversight visit that overlapped with a protest when she was arrested. But video taken during the incident allegedly shows her striking an ICE agent and pushing him.