Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh indicted over ICE protests outside Chicago

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CHICAGO (AP) — A Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois has been accused of blocking a federal agent’s vehicle during September protests outside an immigration enforcement building in suburban Chicago, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

The felony indictment, filed last week by a special grand jury, charges Kat Abughazaleh and five others of conspiring to impede an officer.

"This is a political prosecution and 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,” Abughazaleh said in a statement Wednesday.

Protesters have gathered outside the immigration center to oppose enforcement operations in the Chicago area that have led to more than 1,800 arrests and complaints of excessive force.

Greg Bovino, who is leading Border Patrol efforts in Chicago, was ordered this week by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis to brief her every evening about the operations. But an appeals court blocked the order before he was scheduled to appear Wednesday while it considers an appeal from the Justice Department.

Federal prosecutors accuse Abughazaleh and others of surrounding a vehicle driven by a federal agent on Sept. 26 and attempting to stop it from entering the facility.

Among the others named in the indictment are a candidate for the Cook County Board, a Democratic ward committeeman and a trustee in suburban Oak Park. The charges accuse all six of conspiring to impede an officer.

Abughazaleh is scheduled to make an initial court appearance next week. Her attorney called the charges “unjust.”

The indictment said the group banged on the car, pushed against it, broke a mirror and scratched the text “PIG” on the vehicle.

Abughazaleh at one point put her hands on the vehicle’s hood and braced her body against it while staying in its way, the indictment says. The agent was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators,” it says.

Just a week before that alleged confrontation, she told The Associated Press that during a protest on Sept. 19 she was thrown on the ground by federal agents and hit with tear gas as she stood arm-in-arm with others in front of a driveway, blocking a car. A video of that incident was widely circulated.

A liberal journalist with a big social media following, Abughazaleh announced her run in March, saying most Democrats “work from an outdated playbook.”

She's running in a crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schawkosky.

Protesting the immigration crackdown around Chicago has emerged as a top issue on campaigns in Illinois’ March primary. Elected officials and candidates in the Democratic stronghold have often showed up for demonstrations outside the Broadview federal facility.

“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 said.

"I’ve spent my career fighting America’s backwards slide towards fascism, and I’m not going to give up now," she said. “I hope you won’t either.”

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.