Kat Abughazaleh is a 26-year-old Palestinian American progressive running for Congress. Her recent federal indictment stems from her actions at several protests—including one outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago area. In September, these protests spread, breaking out across the country as part of a larger mounting movement against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. These actions have drawn condemnation from local leaders and civil rights organizations.
In addition to the conspiracy count, the indictment charges that Abughazaleh and five other defendants “physically obstructed and impeded” an officer of the federal government during these protests. According to court documents, the agent was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.” These claims are particularly rich, given that these exact same federally-coerced deportations have recently surged nationwide and especially in progressive cities like Chicago.
These raids have been roundly condemned by local and state leaders, who call these raids nothing short of an abuse of power. Unfortunately, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) does not. They caution that ongoing federal actions pose a dire threat to the community. The raids have released a firestorm of protest from the voting public, including congressional Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists opposing such raids.
In her defense, Abughazaleh has called the indictment an intentional effort to suppress dissent. She stated,
“This is a … gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the first amendment. This case is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges.”
During the protests, participants reportedly “crowded together in the front and side” of the federal vehicle and “pushed against the vehicle to hinder and impede its movement,” according to the indictment. Abughazaleh remembered those encounters with police officers, stating that police would stop protesters, touch them, shove them.
“As I and others exercised our first amendment rights, ICE has hit, dragged, thrown, shot with pepper balls, and teargassed hundreds of protesters, myself included. Simply because we had the gall to say masked men abducting our neighbors and terrorizing our community cannot be the new normal.”
Abughazaleh’s indictment has raised the level of alarm among her supporters and civil rights advocates. They view it as further evidence of a worrisome trend of brazen law enforcement reprisals against anyone who stands up to the federal government’s anti-immigrant agenda. Her legal battle shines a light on the larger struggle between federal law enforcement agencies and communities pushing back against anti-immigrant efforts.