DOJ Indicts Democratic Congressional Candidate Kat Abughazaleh for ICE Facility Protest

On October 29, 2025, the Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment charging Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and five other activists with conspiracy to impede federal law enforcement officers and forcibly impeding ICE officers during a September 26 protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois. The 11-page indictment, filed October 23, alleges that protesters surrounded a vehicle driven by a federal agent, banged on the car, broke a mirror, scratched “PIG” on the vehicle, and physically blocked its entry to the facility. Abughazaleh allegedly placed her hands on the vehicle’s hood and braced her body against it.

The other defendants include Catherine Sharp (candidate for Cook County Board of Commissioners), Michael Rabbitt (Democratic committeeman in Chicago’s 45th Ward), Brian Straw (candidate for Oak Park village trustee), Andre Martin, and Joselyn Walsh. If convicted, the protesters face up to six years in prison for conspiracy charges and eight years for intimidation charges—a combined maximum of 14 years for actions involving property damage to a government vehicle and temporarily impeding its progress.

Abughazaleh, a social media personality and former journalist running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, called the charges “a political prosecution and a gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment.” Legal experts and civil liberties advocates noted the extraordinary severity of federal criminal charges for what would typically be handled as misdemeanor obstruction or trespassing at the local level. The indictment represents part of a broader Trump administration pattern of using federal criminal prosecutions to target political opponents and silence dissent, with critics noting that similar protests during previous administrations rarely if ever resulted in federal conspiracy charges carrying potential decade-plus prison sentences.