Summary
- Kat
Abughazaleh, progressive Illinois House candidate, indicted for ICE
protest. - Charged
with conspiracy and assault for blocking federal immigration officers. - Videos
show her thrown to ground by ICE, sparking viral attention.
Former journalist Kat Abughazaleh, who is currently seeking
a seat in the Illinois House, is charged with one count of conspiracy and one
count of “forcibly impeded, intimidated, and interfered” with an
officer.
Abughazaleh and five other defendants, some of whom are
active in Chicago politics, are charged in the grand jury indictment that was
released on Wednesday with “aggressively” beating on a federal
agent’s car, forcing the officer to drive at a “very slow rate of
speed,” and carving the word “PIG” on the car.
If found guilty, the charges which are among the harshest
ever against protestors under Trump’s Department of Justice carry jail terms of
up to eight years for assault and six years for conspiracy.
“This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt to
silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment,”
Abughazaleh said
on social media after the indictment was unsealed.
Abughazaleh, who is pledging
to fight the “unjust charges” against them, claimed that the Trump
administration has attempted to “criminalize protest and punish anyone who
speaks out against them.”
Before running for Illinois’ 9th district, which includes
sections of Chicago and its suburbs, 26-year-old Abughazaleh was employed by
right-wing media watchdog Media Matters.
As the Trump administration rushed federal law enforcement
and the National Guard into Illinois, she joined hundreds of protesters outside
the Broadview ICE holding facility.
What specific charges were filed against each defendant?
Each defendant faces felony charges with implicit captivity
rulings of over to six times for conspiracy and eight times for assaulting or
impeding civil officers. These charges reflect the civil government’s view that
the kick conduct crossed legal boundaries by gumming civil law
enforcement officers performing their duties.
The case emphasizes that coordinated kick conduct which
physically intrudes with civil officers can affect serious felonious charges,
beyond bare civil defiance.
These charges were laid out in the civil charge filed in
civil court, and each defendant will have the occasion to respond fairly
through censure and posterior proceedings.
