{"id":143,"date":"2026-05-22T11:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=143"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:14:17","slug":"feds-dramatically-drop-charges-against-illinois-anti-ice-activists-including-ex-congressional-candidate-kat-abughazaleh-amid-grand-jury-misconduct-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=143","title":{"rendered":"Feds dramatically drop charges against Illinois anti-ICE activists \u2013 including ex-congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh \u2013 amid grand jury misconduct claims"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Chicago\u2019s US attorney abruptly dismissed a criminal case Thursday against four anti-ICE activists \u2014 including former Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh \u2014 after a federal judge called out prosecutors for rigging the grand jury to secure an indictment.<\/p>\n

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US Attorney Andrew Boutros announced his office was dropping the charges with prejudice after a closed-door hearing before US District Judge April Perry, during which the Joe Biden-appointed jurist said she was \u201cincredibly shocked\u201d by the government\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

Boutros claimed he was unaware of the misconduct, which included a prosecutor meeting with a grand juror outside proceedings and panelists who refused to vote for an indictment being removed from the pool.<\/p>\n

The top prosecutor did not dispute the claims, but insisted to Perry that \u201cno one acted with the intent to mislead your honor, and I think that they were following your order to give the law,\u201d according to a transcript of the hearing that was released later Thursday.<\/p>\n

The judge was not convinced, saying that \u201cI do believe deeply in the presumption of regularity and that most government attorneys are doing the best they can to do the right thing,\u201d but \u201cthat trust has been broken.\u201d <\/p>\n

Perry went on to suggest she might hold a separate hearing to consider sanctions against Boutros\u2019 office.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors initially indicted six activists, including Abughazaleh, in October of last year on charges of having \u201cconspired \u2026 to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat\u201d a federal law enforcement officer from carrying out official duties in a manner seeking \u201cto injure him in his person or property.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Authorities claimed the sextet \u201cphysically hindered and impeded\u201d an unidentified officer who was \u201cforced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators\u201d during a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in suburban Broadview on Sept. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

Charges against two of the demonstrators had been dropped in March, but a misdemeanor case against the other four was set to go to trial next week, more than two months after Abughazaleh \u2014 a left-wing influencer and former employee of liberal watchdog Media Matters for America \u2014 was defeated in the Democratic primary to represent the 9th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Boutros\u2019 office had already dropped felony conspiracy charges last month amid questions about the grand jury transcripts.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe revelations of the grand jury misconduct that led to the dismissal of the charges is sadly not surprising,\u201d said Abughazaleh\u2019s defense attorney Josh Herman, who said he would seek unredacted transcripts of the proceedings. \u201cThis misguided case should have never been brought against Kat Abughazaleh or any of her co-defendants for exercising their protected First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The others charged were Andre Martin, who was on Abughazaleh\u2019s campaign staff; Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw; and Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic committeeman from Chicago.<\/p>\n

Read more The numbers don\u2019t add up with Josh Hart \u2014\u00a0and that\u2019s why Cavaliers lost their big gamble<\/a><\/p>\n

With Post wires<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago’s US attorney abruptly dismissed a criminal case Thursday against four anti-ICE activists — including former Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh — after a federal judge called out prosecutors for allegedly rigging the grand jury to secure an indictment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nFeds dramatically drop charges against Illinois anti-ICE activists \u2013 including ex-congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh \u2013 amid grand jury misconduct claims - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=143\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feds dramatically drop charges against Illinois anti-ICE activists \u2013 including ex-congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh \u2013 amid grand jury misconduct claims - 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