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Federal Grand Jury in Chicago Indicts Six Individuals on Charges of Impeding Federal Agent Engaged in Immigration Enforcement Operations
Journalist and social media influencer Kat Abughazaleh responds to the indictments against her and others in protesting against ICE arrests in Chicagoland
A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted six individuals for allegedly forcibly impeding and interfering with a federal agent who was engaged in immigration enforcement operations in a Chicago suburb last month.
The indictment includes a conspiracy charge against all of the defendants arising out of the incident.
According to an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the defendants were among a crowd of people who surrounded a government vehicle with the intent to hinder and impede the driver—a federal agent—from proceeding to a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., on Sept. 26, 2025.
The defendants and others allegedly crowded together in the front and side of the government vehicle, stood in its path, banged on the car and windows, and pushed against it to hinder and impede its movement. The conspirators broke one of the vehicle’s side mirrors and the rear windshield wiper and etched a derogatory message into the body of the vehicle, the indictment states.
“No one is above the law and no one has the right to obstruct it,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“Federal agents perform dangerous, essential work every single day to enforce our immigration laws and keep our communities safe. When individuals resort to force or intimidation to interfere with that mission, they attack not only the agents themselves but the rule of law they represent. The Department of Justice will never tolerate such conduct and will continue to hold accountable anyone who seeks to impede lawful federal operations.”
“All federal officials must be able to discharge the duties of their office without confronting force, intimidation, or threats,” said Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “As we have warned repeatedly, we will seek to hold accountable those who cross the line from peaceful protests to unlawful actions or conspiracies that interrupt, hinder, or impede the due administration of Justice. The rule of law must always be upheld.”
Charged with conspiracy to impede a U.S. law enforcement officer and individual counts of impeding a U.S. law enforcement officer are MICHAEL RABBITT, 62, of Chicago; KATHERINE MARIE ABUGHAZALEH, 26, of Chicago; ANDRE MARTIN, 27, of Providence, R.I.; CATHERINE SHARP, 29, of Chicago; BRIAN STRAW, 38, of Oak Park, Ill.; and JOSELYN WALSH, 31, of Chicago. Arraignments are scheduled for Nov. 5, 2025, at 3:00 p.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain.
Deputy Attorney General Blanche and U.S. Attorney Boutros announced the charges along with Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“The FBI has zero tolerance for forcible criminal conduct against law enforcement officers engaged in their lawful functions,” said FBI SAC DePodesta. “Impeding federal officers performing their duties or conspiring to do so are criminal offenses. The people of Chicagoland deserve safe communities and peaceful streets and the FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who undermine the rule of law through criminal activity.”
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
A video recording of the incident can be viewed here. If you recognize other individuals in the video who may be impeding law enforcement, you are encouraged to contact the FBI Chicago Field Office by logging on to https://tips.fbi.gov/home.
Abughazaleh responds to illegal arrest of protestors:
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has charged six people, including myself, with federal crimes for exercising our First Amendment rights near ICE’s Broadview processing center.
This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt at silencing dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment. I’m asking for your support in this fight against a weaponized justice system with a contribution today. >>
While we’ve seen the unhinged and unlawful tactics this administration will try to use, we have to remember that they are doing this because THEY are scared.
Here’s the truth: 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.
This case is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up. Because 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.
The Trump administration wants you to be afraid of speaking out against it and its anti-democratic power grabs. And there are plenty of reasons to be afraid right now, but we also must overcome that fear.
THEY know they are wrong, they know that they are inhumane, and they know that history will not be on their side. We cannot diminish ourselves in the face of these tactics; it’s time to unite and show up for humanity, for our rights, for everyone terrorized by Trump’s lawless secret police.
You’ll be hearing regular updates from me directly about the case and how we can continue to use our constitutional rights to resist authoritarianism. I’ve spent my career fighting America’s backwards slide towards fascism, and I’m not going to give up now. I hope you won’t either.
In solidarity,
Kat Abughazaleh
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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