IL Congressional Candidate, 5 Others Indicted Over ICE Protests

EVANSTON, IL — The U.S. Department of justice filed charges against six Illinois protestors this week, accusing them of conspiring to impede actions from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a northern Illinois facility.

The indictment names six protestors present at a demonstration that took place on Sept. 26 at the Broadview ICE processing facility, including District 9 Congressional Candidate Kat Abughazaleh and a member of her staff Andre Martin, as well as protestors Michael Rabbitt, Catherine Sharp, Brian Straw and Joselyn Walsh.

According to the indictment, the group of six conspired with one another and other protestors present to impede enforcement actions taken by federal agents. Specifically, the group is accused of intimidating and intending to harm an agent who was inside his vehicle.

At the protest, the group surrounded the agent's vehicle, banging on its windows and other parts of the car, plus scratching and pushing against it, the indictment claims. Specifically, the word "PIG" was etched into the side of the vehicle.

"It was further part of the conspiracy that the co-conspirators, including Rabbitt, Abughazaleh, Martin, Sharp, Straw, and Walsh, physically hindered and impeded Agent A and the Government Vehicle such that Agent A was forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators and in doing so slowly progressed towards the BSSA to discharge the duties of his office," the indictment reads.

Since ICE's arrival in Broadview over the summer, protestors have maintained a constant presence opposing any actions from immigration agents, including attempts to block vehicles leaving the processing center. The center is being used as the main processing hub for federal immigration authorities during Operation Midway Blitz.

Abughazaleh has attended many protests at the facility, including a demonstration on Sept. 19 where ICE agents were seen picking her up and throwing her to the ground.

“As I and others exercised our First Amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and tear-gassed hundreds of protestors, myself included. Simply because we had the gall to say masked men abducting our neighbors and terrorizing our community cannot be the new normal," Abughazaleh said in a statement.

According to a recent statement from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, more than 480,000 undocumented immigrants have been arrested nationally since President Donald Trump was elected nine months ago.

"We will continue to fulfill Trump's promise to Make America Safe Again, secure our borders, and protect our people," Noem said on X, formerly known as Twitter.