Katherine Abughazaleh, a progressive Democrat running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th District, has been indicted by the Department of Justice following multiple confrontations with ICE agents during protests outside a federal processing facility.
Abughazaleh first made headlines last month after joining demonstrators attempting to block operations at the ICE center in Broadview, Illinois. The protest escalated when an ICE officer deployed a tear-gas canister, which a demonstrator then hurled toward NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley. Video also showed Abughazaleh rushing toward ICE officers before being removed and taken to the ground by one of them.
Footage from the scene quickly went viral.
Now: A woman protesting rushes in front of a federal officer’s vehicle leaving the Broadview facility—Agents quickly jump in and forcibly remove her, reporter Ali Bradley wrote while sharing the video.
Despite that incident, Abughazaleh returned to the facility just a week later, again standing in front of an ICE vehicle and sharing footage of the confrontation online. In her own post, she accused ICE of attempting to drive through protesters and firing pepper rounds.
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors indicted Abughazaleh and five other activists, alleging they conspired to obstruct federal law-enforcement operations. The charges appear to stem from the second incident.
Abughazaleh responded to the indictment in a video statement, calling the prosecution politically motivated and an attack on free speech.
“Since I and others have exercised our First Amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls and teargassed hundreds of protesters,” she said. “This administration has resorted to weaponizing the federal justice system to scare us into silence. But we’re not going to be silent.”
She vowed to fight the charges and continue campaigning.