Chicago’s top federal prosecutor announced Thursday he was dropping charges against the remaining members of the “Broadview Six” in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury by his assistants — but which he insisted he knew nothing about until recently.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros told U.S. District Judge April Perry he was “completely unaware” of the misconduct until late last month, when prosecutors dropped the felony conspiracy indictment against the four remaining defendants in the case. Boutros also told Perry that “no one acted with the intent to mislead your honor.”
Then, despite dropping the case with prejudice — meaning it can’t be re-filed — Boutros went on to defend what is now the most controversial prosecution of his 14-month tenure.
Boutros said the events on Sept. 26 outside an immigration holding facility in Broadview — in which the defendants and others surrounded a federal agent’s vehicle and slowed its approach to the building — is “unacceptable in a civilized society. It is for the grace of God that that agent moved at two miles per hour.”
Perry wound up telling Boutros, “you are significantly undercutting your mea culpa here by standing behind the charges and continuing to vilify these particular defendants.”
The judge said the issue of “sanctions” could be dealt with later. For the time being, the judge said she wanted to end the ordeal for the defendants and make public a transcript of a sealed hearing Thursday morning in which the alleged misconduct was revealed.
Though Boutros was initially appointed to his job by then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Chicago’s federal judges picked him last summer to continue in the role on a more permanent basis. U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Thursday’s events.
The Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune and the Better Government Association intervened in the case Thursday morning, arguing the sealed morning hearing should take place on the public record. Perry heard from media lawyer Steven Mandell but said, “the interest in guaranteeing a fair jury to these defendants is more compelling than allowing access to this particular proceeding.”
Perry then cleared the courtroom, and court security roped off the area of the hallway nearby for the duration of the closed-door session.
The case is one of the most highly publicized prosecutions to result from Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign. That’s because it began as a conspiracy case against six people who protested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in suburban Broadview.
But the feds dropped charges against two of the original six, and then they abandoned the conspiracy charge altogether. Four people wound up facing one misdemeanor count each of forcibly impeding a federal agent.
Charged were former congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw, 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson Michael Rabbitt and Andre Martin, who served as a member of Abughazaleh’s campaign staff.
The latest charging document in the case, filed April 29, did not offer specific allegations against the defendants. But they were generally accused of joining a larger group of protesters who surrounded an ICE agent’s vehicle and pushed, scratched and otherwise damaged it as it approached the facility in Broadview.
With trial nearing Tuesday, controversy over a set of transcripts from grand jury proceedings put the case on the rocks. Defense attorneys sought access to transcripts showing how the conspiracy law had been explained to grand jurors.
Perry agreed to look at them on her own.
Grand jury proceedings are generally treated with secrecy, with panels hearing only from prosecutors and their witnesses before deciding whether to hand up an indictment.
Prosecutors wound up redacting portions of the transcripts they gave Perry. She asked them to bring unredacted copies to an April 29 hearing. But moments into it, prosecutors announced they’d be dismissing the conspiracy charge and abandoning the grand jury’s indictment — proceeding with misdemeanor charges in a separate charging document.
Defense attorneys continued to push for their disclosure anyway. Straw attorney Christopher Parente urged Perry during a hearing Monday simply to look at an unredacted version, arguing that prosecutors may be hiding something that “could have tainted all of this.”
Prosecutors said they had no objection, so Perry agreed to take a look. She seemed skeptical at the time, though, telling them “if I had to guess, it seemed like those were probably related to IT issues.”
Two days later, the judge demanded the appearance in her courtroom of “any” prosecutor “who participated in the decision to redact portions” of the transcript, “whether on the trial team or at the supervisory level.”
Perry said she’d hold the hearing under seal to avoid tainting the jury pool, and because grand jury matters would be discussed.
