Congressional candidate Kat Abu-Ghazaleh and five others have been charged in connection with protests against Trump’s deportation. They all pleaded not guilty. Abu Ghazaleh insists the prosecution is political.
Anti-ICE protesters confront police in Chicago
One month has passed since the “Operation Midway Blitz,” and protesters are taking to the streets in Chicago to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
CHICAGO – A Democratic House candidate charged in connection with protests against President Donald Trump’s Midway Blitz pleaded not guilty on November 12, calling the charges against him an attempt to “silence dissent.”
Kat Abu-Ghazaleh, a leading voice among anti-immigration enforcement protesters in Chicago and a candidate for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, has been charged along with five others with assaulting, resisting, and obstructing a federal officer. At a protest on September 26, Abu Ghazaleh and others stood in front of an immigration enforcement SUV entering a suburban Department of Homeland Security facility.
The 26-year-old’s appearance on charges related to fighting President Trump’s promised mass deportation campaign comes as Chicago residents opposed to the bombing are taking the administration to court and the president’s Justice Department is taking locals to court in resistance to enforcement.
“I have been prosecuted for speaking out against inhumane policies,” Abu Ghazaleh told supporters outside the courthouse. The Congressional candidate spoke in front of a lectern that read “Protect Broadview Six,” a reference to the suburban village where the migrant processing center at the epicenter of the bombing was located. The Trump administration is trying to scare us into silence, but look around, is it working? ”
Dozens of supporters holding placards protesting immigration enforcement cheered.
“Do you want to live in a country where assaults can happen because we don’t have a voice? I don’t, and I hope you don’t either,” she said.
Brian Straw, Katherine Sharp, Michael Rabbitt, Jocelyn Walsh, and Andre Martin, who were also charged, also pleaded not guilty on November 12 in court in the Northern District of Illinois.
The progressives’ appearance in court over resistance to the Trump administration comes at a moment of reckoning within the Democratic Party, with many divided over efforts by moderate Democratic senators to end the government shutdown without securing the health care benefits promised to voters.
Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, previously issued a statement regarding the charges.
“All federal employees must be able to perform their duties without facing force, intimidation, or intimidation,” Boutros said. “As we have repeatedly warned, we will hold to account those who cross the line from peaceful protest to unlawful acts and conspiracies that disrupt, impede or obstruct the legitimate administration of justice. The rule of law must always be upheld.”
