CHICAGO — A federal judge on Friday granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss charges against two of six Democratic officeholders, candidates and activists indicted last fall after protesting outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago.
The “Broadview Six,” named for the small suburb in which the ICE facility became a hotbed for protest action in September, have maintained since their October indictments that they were selectively charged among dozens of protesters for political reasons.
Within minutes of the feds making the charges public, Democratic congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh posted a video on social media calling the indictment “a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent” by “weaponizing the federal justice system.”
Read more: ‘Broadview Six’ plead not guilty to charges of ‘impeding’ agents outside ICE facility | Democratic candidates, officeholders indicted for ‘impeding’ agent outside ICE facility
Charges dropped
Charges were officially dropped Friday against Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, who dropped out of the race in January citing the “emotional and financial” costs of fighting the case. Joselyn Walsh, who does not work in politics but performed songs during protests at Broadview, also had charges dropped. During the same Sept. 26 demonstration at issue in the case, federal agents shot a rubber bullet through Walsh’s guitar.
In a statement Thursday, Walsh expressed relief that her charges were dismissed but that it “does not change the disruption it caused in my life for the past six months.”
“It also does not change that I was a victim of ICE violence when they shot my guitar and that many continue to experience violence at the hands of federal agents in Chicago and across the country,” she said.
Sharp predicted vindication for “all six of us.”
“This motion to dismiss proves what we have always known — that the indictment in this case was flawed from the outset,” Sharp said in a statement.
Indictment narrowed
The feds’ motion to dismiss those charges came two weeks after prosecutors agreed to narrow the scope of the indictment.
Remaining defendants include Abughazaleh and her deputy campaign manager Andre Martin, along with Chicago 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbitt, a former candidate for the Illinois House, and Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw.
The group was charged with felony conspiracy, with prosecutors alleging they conspired to “interrupt, hinder, and impede” a federal immigration agent from the “discharge of his official duties.” They also face charges for misdemeanor simple assault of a federal officer, which does not require physical contact.
The charges stem from a late September demonstration at the height of protests outside the ICE facility, a few weeks into the Trump administration’s Chicago-area immigration enforcement surge campaign dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Of the 50 to 100 protesters present at the Sept. 26 demonstration, more than a dozen were captured on video — including footage posted to Abughazaleh’s social media accounts — surrounding a vehicle driven by a federal agent into the ICE facility’s property, banging on its hood and windows while the agent drove slowly through the crowd.
To prove a conspiracy charge, which carries a maximum of six years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors have to prove intent that a group of people agreed to act in concert. And while the burden of proof for the charge is not a particularly high bar, government lawyers haven’t routinely hit protesters with conspiracy charges in modern history.
‘Improper influence’ from White House
And in a new filing, lawyers for the remaining four defendants asked U.S. District Judge April Perry to force the Department of Justice to turn over records — including Trump administration communications — that they believe would show “improper influence” from the White House to the Department of Justice to bring the charges.
In a 26-page motion Friday, attorneys alleged the public record is “replete with public admissions” from members of the Trump administration that it is actively weaponizing the Department of Justice and federal courts “to retaliate against perceived political enemies.”
Lawyers pointed out multiple instances in which White House or Department of Homeland Security officials responded to Abughazaleh’s social media and appearances on cable news.
For example, in early October, a spokesperson for now-ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem responded to one Abughazaleh appearance on MSNBC with her own on Fox News. In the interview, lawyers wrote in Friday’s filing that Tricia McLaughlin “personally attacked” Abughazaleh as “dishonest, desperate and demonizing law enforcement to try to get 5 minutes on MSNBC and some fundraising cash.”
Attorneys also bolstered their arguments that the indictment was politically motivated, as “the one commonality among these four defendants is that via social media platforms and public statements they were all outspoken critics of the Trump Administration,” the filing said.
“Put simply, the defendants, the Court, and the public deserve an answer as to whether this prosecution was brought for unconstitutional retaliatory and/or selective reasons,” the lawyers wrote.
The case is set for trial beginning May 26.
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