DOJ Indicts Congressional Candidate Amid Threats to Arrest Dems Over ICE Accountability Efforts

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed felony charges against a Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois and multiple other Chicago officials Wednesday, accusing them of conspiring to impede an officer.

In targeting Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, the DOJ’s new case raises stark constitutional and electoral concerns, as opposition to President Donald’s Trump aggressive immigration raids in Chicago has become a central issue in her campaign.

In a statement, Abughazaleh described the charges against her and others as 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 against them. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges,” she said. 

The grand jury indictment against Abughazaleh comes after federal agents have already arrested or detained multiple Democratic officials, including Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Rep. Lamonica McIver (N.J.), who participated in oversight efforts on or demonstrations against Trump’s large-scale mass deportation program.

Alongside Abughazaleh, the DOJ indicted a Democratic candidate for the Cook County Board, a Democratic ward committeeman, a municipal board member and two other people.

The indictment alleged that they conspired to impede a federal officer by being among a group of people who surrounded a government vehicle outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility last month in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. 

A video accompanying the indictment showed a large group of people in front of and around a black SUV outside of the Broadview ICE facility. Members of the group threw stuffed animals at the vehicle and pounded on its windows while shouting chants.

The DOJ alleged that by participating in the demonstration, Abughazaleh and the five others attempted to “prevent by force, intimidation, and threat” a federal agent “from discharging the duties of his office, and to injure him in his person or property.”

All six were charged with conspiracy to impede a law enforcement officer and individual counts of impeding a law enforcement officer. If convicted, they could face several years in prison and large fines.

The indictment was also revealed days after senior White House and DOJ officials vowed to go after those who attempt to hold federal immigration agents accountable.

Trump officials made the threats largely in response to federal, state and local Democrats in several states announcing new initiatives to document — and potentially prosecute — federal agents who commit misconduct during immigration operations.

The elected Democrats recently threatened by Trump officials with prosecution or investigation over the ICE accountability efforts include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Bob Bonta, the California attorney general.

Democrats around the country have announced accountability initiatives after countless videos this year — including some promoted by the federal government — have shown federal agents using aggressive tactics in carrying out Trump’s deportation agenda or cracking down on people protesting it.

In Chicago specifically, agents have been seen grabbing people by the throat, indiscriminately deploying tear gas in residential neighborhoods, conducting mass raids on apartment complexes and shooting journalists and clergy members in the head with less-than-lethal projectiles.

Pritzker last week announced an independent commission that will create a public record of unlawful actions committed by federal agents in the state while also documenting the effects of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids around Chicago.

Legal experts have noted that while citizens and elected officials have a constitutional right to document any potential misconduct by federal officers, prosecuting agents for state law violations is complicated because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. 

Despite recent claims from Trump officials, however, the clause does not give federal officers complete criminal immunity from local or state prosecutions.