Candidate Kat Abu-Ghazaleh denounced the charges as a “political prosecution” amid a conflict between Trump and urban Democrats.
A Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives has been indicted by the Department of Justice in connection with a protest outside a federal immigration facility in Illinois.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Kat Abu Ghazaleh, 26, announced that she had been charged along with five other protesters.
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“This political prosecution is an attack on all First Amendment rights,” Abu Ghazaleh, a progressive influencer and journalist, said in a post. “I’m not going to back down, and we’re going to win.”
Abu Gazela is currently running for the open seat representing Illinois’ 9th Congressional District north of Chicago. She plans to appear on the Democratic primary ballot in March.
But federal prosecutors accused her and her co-defendants of “physically obstructing and obstructing” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
According to the indictment, they surrounded the government vehicle, “violently collided with it,” blocked the personnel’s progress, and carved “PIG” into the vehicle’s body. The group also claimed to have damaged the car’s side mirrors and wipers.
Abu Ghazaleh was charged with “conspiring to obstruct or injure a police officer” and “assaulting, resisting, or obstructing” a federal officer in connection with the Sept. 23 incident.
I was charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice. This political prosecution is an attack on all First Amendment rights. I’m not going to back down and we’re going to win.
— Kat Abu Ghazaleh (@katmabu.bsky.social) 2025-10-29T16:55:30.610Z
Those indicted along with Abu Gazela include Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic politician from Chicago’s 45th District, and Katherine Sharp, a Democrat who is running for a seat on the Cook County Commission.
The charges come as President Donald Trump’s administration is sending large numbers of federal agents to Democratic-run cities as part of a massive deportation effort.
Several Democratic members of Congress, including Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka and U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver, have been charged for participating in the counter-protests. The charges against Baraka were later dropped.
President Trump has also sought to deploy the National Guard to several cities, including Chicago, but has been repeatedly blocked by courts. The Supreme Court is expected to rule in the Chicago case, and its decision could have far-reaching implications for the future of these deployments.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday was also scheduled to hear the Trump administration’s challenge to a lower court ruling that barred the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, Oregon.
As part of those incidents, the Trump administration faces intense scrutiny over its treatment of immigrants and protesters alike.
The regime has also been criticized for comparing protesters to “terrorists” and pursuing unwarranted charges in court.
Even Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, Abu Gazela’s opponent in the 2026 Democratic primary, was among those to condemn Wednesday’s indictment.
“ICE was the only agency responsible for violent and dangerous behavior in Broadview,” Biss said in a statement published on local news site Evanston Now.
Biss said he had also protested the “kidnapping of neighbors” at the facility multiple times.
“The Trump administration is now targeting protesters, including political candidates, in an effort to silence opposition and intimidate residents into submission,” Biss said. “That won’t work.”
