DOJ indicts Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh over ICE protests

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-indicts-
democratic-congressional-candidate-kat-abughazaleh-ice-pro-rcna240584

A special federal grand jury has indicted Democratic congressional 
candidate Kat Abughazaleh alongside other protesters who allegedly blocked 
vehicles outside of a federal immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois.

The indictment, which was filed Oct. 23, alleges that Abughazaleh 
"physically hindered and impeded” an agent who was "forced to drive at an 
extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.” 
Abughazaleh was charged alongside five other people, including two other 
political candidates.

She faces one count of conspiracy along with one charge alleging that she 
“forcibly impeded, intimidated, and interfered” with an officer.

The indictment alleges that the group "conspired with one another and 
others, known and unknown, to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat, 
Agent A, a United States law enforcement officer, from discharging the 
duties of his office, and to injure him in his person or property on 
account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his office, and while 
engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, and to injure his property so as 
to interrupt, hinder, and impede him in the discharge of his official 
duties."

The defendants were not arrested but were notified of the indictment and 
will self-surrender next Wednesday, according to a court filing. U.S. 
District Judge April M. Perry, a Biden appointee, is assigned to the case.

“This is a political prosecution that tries to turn dissent and First 
Amendment opposition to the Trump administration’s cruel policies into a 
conspiracy,” defense attorney Josh Herman told NBC News in an email. “Kat 
has steadfastly opposed those policies and she will fight these charges 
with the same principled determination.”

"I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of 
Justice. This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First 
Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win,” 
Abughazaleh wrote in a social media post.

Abughazaleh, a social media star and former journalist, is running for 
Congress in Illinois' 9th Congressional District, currently held by 
retiring Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky. She has been vocally critical of 
the Trump administration's immigration policies.

In a fundraising email to supporters, Abughazaleh called the charges "yet 
another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and 
punish those who dare to speak up."

She added that "Chicago doesn’t back down from bullies in masks who 
teargas our neighborhoods, this administration is resorting to weaponizing 
the federal legal system to scare us into silence."

Broadview, a Chicago suburb, has for months stood at the center of 
confrontations between immigration authorities and protesters. The 
facility has drawn activists from around the country as well as 
demonstrators from the greater Chicago area who have grown agitated over 
what they view as overreach by immigration officials.

The small suburb, west of the city, has faced its own struggles with the 
onslaught of protesters, to the point that it created a “First Amendment” 
zone where they could safely organize, and the mayor has restricted hours 
of protests to protect the sanctity of Broadview residents. Clashes 
between protesters and immigration officials have resulted in arrests and 
First Amendment challenges in federal court.

A federal judge earlier this month issued a temporary restraining order 
against law enforcement officials to curb the use of tactics like shooting 
pepper balls or throwing tear gas canisters into a crowd, particularly 
without warning.


-- 
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look 
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.