Illinois Democrat posts video of alleged ICE protest crime, faces costs

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An Illinois Democratic congressional candidate posted video to social media that seems to depict occasions described in a federal indictment accusing her of impeding Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers.

The 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, a self-styled "Gen Z influencer," has known as the fees a "political prosecution" and mentioned she was exercising her First Amendment rights , not breaking the legislation.

"I've been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Division of Justice," she wrote on X. "This political prosecution is an assault on all of our First Modification rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win."

DHS RIPS ‘DISHONEST, DESPERATE’ GEN Z CANDIDATE WHO RAGED AGAINST KRISTI NOEM’S 'CRIMES’ AT ANTI-ICE PROTEST

Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh holds a megaphone exterior the Broadview ICE processing heart Sept. 26, 2025. (Reuters/Jim Vondruska)

Throughout a protest exterior ICE's Broadview Service Staging Space in suburban Chicago on Sept. 26, federal prosecutors allege that she joined a mob that swarmed a law enforcement vehicle , blocking it with their our bodies earlier than somebody etched the phrase "PIG" into the automobile and others ripped off a mirror and windshield wiper.

WATCH: Illinois Democrat posts video of ICE protest that led to her federal indictment In response to the indictment, Abughazaleh is accused of participating within the blockade at round 7:45 a.m. that very same day.

"ABUGHAZALEH joined the gang on the entrance of the Authorities Automobile, and together with her arms on the hood braced her physique and arms in opposition to the automobile whereas remaining instantly within the path of the automobile, hindering and impeding Agent A and the automobile from continuing to the [staging area]," the indictment reads.

The video seems to indicate simply that, with Abughazaleh on the head of the gang, leaning into the entrance of the unmarked automobile, a black SUV with flashing lights.

Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh protests at an ICE processing heart Sept. 26, 2025, close to Chicago. (Reuters/Jim Vondruska)

Abughazaleh payments herself as a radical progressive Democrat whose platform features a wealth tax on wealthy Individuals, a $25 minimal wage and "a right away pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and different undocumented immigrants." Her hobbies embody knitting and enjoying video video games, in line with her web site.

DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE THROWN TO GROUND DURING CHAOTIC ANTI-ICE PROTEST

Learn the indictment :

She has additionally vehemently opposed the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants . In a televised interview earlier this month, she instructed former White Home press secretary Jen Psaki that she thinks Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem "needs to be tried on the Hague" — a reference to the Netherlands-based Worldwide Felony Court docket.

Abughazaleh faces two counts underneath a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday: conspiracy to stop a legislation enforcement officer from discharging his duties and forcibly impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer. 5 different folks on the protest have been additionally charged.

<source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/931/523/protester-in-front-of-sheriffs-deputies-in-chicago.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/10/1862/1046/protester-in-front-of-sheriffs-deputies-in-chicago.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> A protester sporting an American flag face overlaying stands reverse Cook dinner County sheriffs exterior an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Sick., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Picture/Adam Grey)

Two of them are additionally concerned in native politics: Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic committee particular person in Chicago’s forty fifth Ward, and Catherine Sharp, a candidate for the Cook dinner County Board of Commissioners.

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The Gen Z candidate is working for Illinois' 9th Congressional District seat to exchange outgoing 81-year-old Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who's retiring after holding the workplace since 1999.