Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive candidate running for the US House of Representatives in Illinois' 9th Congressional District, struck a defiant tone on Wednesday after being indicted on federal charges by the US Department of Justice.
As MSNBC reports, the charges against Abughazaleh relate to her frequent protests outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois. She faces one count of conspiracy to impede or injure an ICE officer, and one count of assaulting or impeding that officer while he was engaged in his official duties.
According to MSNBC, the indictment accuses Abughazaleh and five other anti-ICE protestors of "banging aggressively" on an ICE vehicle's back windows and hood, as well as "pushing against it to 'hinder and impede its movement,' and etching the word 'PIG' on the car."
In a video posted on social media after the indictment, Abughazaleh labeled the criminal charges as baseless and an attempt to intimidate Americans out of exercising their First Amendment rights to protest.
"This is a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent," she said. "This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish anyone who speaks out against them. That's why I'm going to fight these unjust charges."
Abughazaleh proceeded to accuse ICE agents of physically assaulting peaceful demonstrators outside the Broadview facility "simply because we had the gall to say masked men coming into our communities, abducting our neighbors, and terrorizing us cannot be our new normal."
She then closed her video by asking that her supporters show courage in the face of attempts to intimidate them.
"As scary as all this is, I have spent my career fighting America's backslide into fascism," she said. "I'm not going to stop now. And I hope you won't either."
Abughazaleh has been a regular presence at protests outside the Broadview facility, and an ICE officer last month was caught on camera throwing her to the ground during a demonstration.
Federal law enforcement officials stationed in Broadview have faced numerous accusations of deploying excessive force, including from Rev. David Black, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, who was shot repeatedly with pepper balls while peacefully protesting outside the ICE facility.
