Dem congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh indicted in Illinois over ‘anti-ICE conspiracy & etching PIG on agent’s car’
A progressive congressional candidate has been charged federally following a protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Chicago.
Ex-journalist Kat Abughazaleh and a group of others are accused of surrounding an ICE officer’s car, banging on the windows and scrawling the word “PIG” on the side.
The 26-year-old Democrat is a social media influencer and writer currently campaigning to represent Illinois’ ninth district.
On September 26, Abughazaleh joined an ICE protest in Chicago and was part of a group of people who “surrounded” a government vehicle “with the intent to obstruct and impede” an agent, the indictment says.
The group physically arrested an officer who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators,” prosecutors said.
They “aggressively struck” the vehicle, “gathered” around it and “pushed against the vehicle,” the indictment states.
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During the alleged incident, a side mirror and rear wiper were broken.
A special federal grand jury brought the charges Thursday and said all six defendants would be allowed to surrender.
Michael Rabbitt, Andre Martin, Catherine Sharp, Brian Straw and Joselyn Walsh were also charged with charges stemming from the incident.
Sharp is running for a seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and Rabbitt is a Democratic committeeman for the 45th Ward.
Abughazaleh faces one count of conspiracy as well as another charge alleging she “obstructed, intimidated and forcibly obstructed” an officer.
The indictment claims the group “conspired with one another” to prevent the law enforcement officer from “carrying out his duties.”
Shortly after the indictment was made public, the rising political star denounced the claims in a video message posted to social media.
“This is a political pursuit and a crude attempt to silence dissent – a right protected by the First Amendment,” she told her supporters.
“This case represents a major move by the Trump administration to criminalize protests and punish anyone who speaks out against them. »
Abughazaleh vowed to fight “unjust accusations,” saying politicians are using the federal court system to try to “silence us.”
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“But we are not going to stay silent,” she said.
“I’m not backing down and we will win,” she wrote on X.
THE ACTION ON THE ICE HAPPENS
The indictment came weeks after Abghazaleh shared a video that appears to show an ICE agent pulling her from a vehicle and throwing her to the ground during a heated protest.
The video was released a week before the alleged incident detailed in the indictment.
“This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights,” Abughazaleh wrote in the caption.
Protests in the Windy City have intensified since ICE began cracking down on illegal immigration with “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The campaign was launched in honor of 20-year-old Katie Abraham, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident with illegal alien Julio Cucul-Bol in Illinois.
In a Truth Social article shared earlier this month, President Donald Trump said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker should be jailed for their treatment of ICE agents.
“The mayor of Chicago should be in jail for failing to protect ICE agents!” » he wrote.
WHO IS KAT ABUGHAZALEH
Abghazaleh’s father is Aladin Abughazaleh, a native of Palestine who immigrated to the United States and founded a successful data processing company.
His mother is a seventh-generation resident of Dallas, Texas, from a line of prominent Texas Republicans.
Abughazaleh described her parents as Reagan Republicans and said she identified as conservative until her teenage years.
Today, she has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on her social media platforms by sharing her progressive comments.
Abughazaleh hopes to unseat Democrat Jan Schakowsky, 81, who has represented the district since 1999.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in March, she cited America’s cost-of-living crisis as a motivation for her campaign.
“There is no reason why every American can’t afford housing, groceries, health insurance, public transportation, and still have enough money to save up and take their child to the zoo or go to the movies with their friends,” she said.
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“There is simply no reason: we are the richest country in the world.
“The idea that this is unrealistic, idealistic, naive or even called childish, I think is rubbish.”
Trump’s latest immigration crackdown initiatives
- Donald Trump announced on May 5 that illegal immigrants who self-deport would receive a $1,000 stipend and a free flight home.
- WH press secretary Karoline Leavitt reported that 7,000 illegal immigrants attempted to cross the border in March – the lowest level in history.
- Trump declared Mexican cartels and Salvadoran MS-13 gang as terrorist organizations
- On May 4, Trump also announced plans to reopen the notorious Alcatraz prison, which once housed gangster Al Capone.
- In January, Trump revealed plans to send up to 30,000 illegal immigrants in the detention centers of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
- In March, the US president began deporting hundreds of suspected gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
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