JUST IN: ‘Squad’-Aligned Democrat Candidate Indicted
A far-left candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives has been indicted for obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations after repeatedly filming herself standing in the way of federal vehicles and impeding their operations.
Kat Abughazaleh, a far-left influencer and journalist who is currently a primary candidate for a vacant seat in Illinois’ Democrat-dominated 9th Congressional District, was among six rioters hit with federal charges in connection with the ongoing unrest outside an ICE detention facility in Broadview Illinois.
The indictment, which was filed on October 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 rioters, including two additional political candidates.
The Broadview facility is one of many that has suffered repeat attacks from far-left mobs. Several Democrat candidates for the open House seat in Chicago, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and Abughazaleh, have filmed themselves blocking ICE vehicles.
Other rioters have clashed with agents, pelted rocks at vehicles and slashed tires in near daily disturbances at the facility. Agents have repeatedly attempted to control the crowd with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets, though they were largely outnumbered by the mob until a surge in federal resources and National Guard personnel.
In a video uploaded to X on September 26, Abughazaleh boasted about how she and dozens of additional protesters stood in front of a moving ICE vehicle and prevented it from moving. “Up, up with liberation,” the mob could be heard chanting as Abughazaleh stood at the front of the group.
“At the Broadview ICE facility, an ICE agent tried to run dozens of protesters over with an SUV as we walked on a public crosswalk,” the far-left congresswoman captioned the video.
At the Broadview ICE facility, an ICE agent tried to run dozens of protesters over with an SUV as we walked on a public crosswalk.
He kept driving for about a full football field until ICE barraged us with pepper balls. pic.twitter.com/bGX7vh5o84
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) September 26, 2025
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.”
None of the defendants have been arrested and will be allowed to self-surrender on Wednesday, November 5, according to a court filing. Judge April M. Perry, a Biden appointee, is assigned to the case.
Abughazaleh is charged with one count of conspiracy along with one charge alleging that she “forcibly impeded, intimidated, and interfered” with a federal agent.
In a video statement, the far-left candidate claimed that she is a victim of “political persecution” and vowed to fight the charges.
She doubled down in a fundraising email to supporters, in which 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.”
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