Progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh indicted for allegedly conspiring to injure officers during anti-ICE protests
Kat Abughazaleh, who has announced a campaign for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, carries yard signs into her brand-new campaign office in the Rogers Park neighborhood on May 6, 2025. Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(CHICAGO) — A federal grand jury has indicted progressive Illinois House candidate Kat Abughazaleh for allegedly assaulting and conspiring to injure law enforcement during a protest last month at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago.
Abughazaleh and five others were charged with felony offenses for their alleged involvement in a series of skirmishes with officers that later went viral on social media outside of the facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Abughazaleh, 26, posted a video on social media Wednesday responding to the indictment, in which she proclaimed her innocence.
“This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights,” Abughazaleh said. “I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.”
The indictment alleges Abughazaleh conspired with others to impede a law enforcement officer from carrying out his duties on Sept. 26 by surrounding his vehicle and banging “aggressively” to prevent it from moving outside of the Broadview facility’s staging area.
Abughazaleh has posted multiple videos of her joining protests outside of the facility, including one on Sept. 19 that showed her being thrown to the ground by an ICE officer. The videos have led to calls from right-wing activists such as Laura Loomer to have the DOJ arrest Abughazaleh and others who joined in the protests.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — From New York and New Jersey to California, millions of Americans are voting this fall in multiple states, in several notable local and statewide elections for the first time since last November’s presidential race.
The results from Tuesday’s off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia — and the New York City mayor’s race — will give voters an opportunity to weigh in on the state of the country and their communities.
ABC News has launched a series of stories and reports across multiple platforms to comprehensively cover the issues at the center of this year’s elections and look ahead at the 2026 midterms.
Tuesday’s elections could hold clues to how Americans view this pivotal moment in the country, and reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position one year away from the consequential 2026 midterm elections.
And in California, where Democrats have asked voters to approve redrawing the state’s congressional map as part of a national redistricting battle, the results will help shape next year’s fight for the balance of power in Washington and control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The stakes are high for both parties: A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel, found that two-thirds of Americans say that the country is “pretty seriously off on the wrong track,” compared to one-third who say it is moving in the right direction.
That figure, while lower than the 75% of Americans who said the same at the same time last year, comes as 6-in-10 Americans blame President Donald Trump for the current rate of inflation.
More than 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, management of the federal government and tariffs — and 64% said he is going “too far” in trying to expand presidential power.
At the same time, 68% of Americans say the Democratic Party is “out of touch with the concerns of most people in the United States today,” compared to 63% who feel the same way about Trump, and 61% who say the Republican Party is out of touch.
Voters will weigh in on the state of the country this fall as the federal government remains shut down, with Democrats locked in a battle with Republicans and the Trump administration over federal spending and health care.
Americans blame both parties for the logjam that is jeopardizing some federal programs and frozen pay for hundreds of thousands of government workers. The message some voters send this week could potentially break the impasse, and jump start talks to reopen the government.
Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks to members of the media in Statuary Hall at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(NEWARK, N.J.) — Congresswoman LaMonica McIver must face at least two of three federal charges accusing her of assaulting and impeding immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center after federal judge on Thursday rejected her attempt to dismiss the case.
The New Jersey Democrat was charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials following her May 9 visit to Delaney Hall, a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility in Newark that ICE uses as a detention center.
The government alleges McIver intervened as federal agents attempted to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper turned down McIver’s arguments that she is immune from prosecution under the Speech or Debate Clause.
“Impeding an arrest, whether lawful or unlawful, goes beyond any reasonable definition of oversight and, accordingly, exceeds the safe harbor of legislative immunity,” Semper wrote in an order published Thursday.
McIver’s actions as described in count one, which alleged she placed her arms around the mayor in an attempt to thwart his arrest and then slammed her forearm into a federal agent, were “wholly disconnected from the oversight she and the Representatives later conducted when touring the facility, where they engaged in protected fact-finding related to federal immigration policy,” the judge continued. “Defendant’s presence at Delaney Hall does not grant constitutional protection for every act performed in connection to that visit.”
Semper said he is still considering whether the Speech and Debate Clause might apply to count two — which alleged she forcibly struck an ICE officer following the arrest — noting, “the factual record is still being developed.”
The judge also rejected McIver’s argument that her case amounted to selective and vindictive prosecution by a Republican administration that called her visit to Delaney Hall a “reckless stunt.”
“Defendant has not demonstrated that her prosecution is a result of personal animus harbored by the prosecution,” Semper said.
McIver has pleaded not guilty. The trial was supposed to start this week but had been delayed pending the judge’s ruling.
She has alleged the prosecution is politically motivated, and her office called the charges “baseless.”
“This is Trump weaponizing the DOJ for people who speak out against him, for members and elected leaders who do their jobs to hold this administration accountable,” she said at a press event following her arraignment in June. “We will not be intimidated.”
Tensions escalated at the facility when a federal officer ordered Baraka to leave a secured area of the facility or face arrest, and pushing and shoving allegedly occurred, according to prosecutors.
Baraka was arrested at the facility and charged with trespassing, which was later dropped.
(WASHINGTON) — Most Americans oppose the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s ballroom, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it, the poll finds.
Just 28% of Americans support it, with 15% strongly supporting the East Wing being torn down for a ballroom, the poll found. Another 16% say they are not sure.
Support breaks down by party lines, with a 62% majority of Republicans in support and 88% of Democrats opposed. A 61% majority of independents oppose the East Wing tear town and ballroom, with nearly half opposing it strongly, according to the poll.
Opinions are much stronger among Democrats: 78% of Democrats strongly oppose the teardown and ballroom, a much smaller 35% of Republicans strongly support it.
A majority of liberals (76%) and about half of moderates (51%) strongly oppose the East Wing teardown and ballroom, while just about a third of conservatives (34%) support it strongly.
Strong support peaks among strong Trump approvers, with 58% saying they strongly support the teardown of the East Wing and ballroom. Among those who somewhat approve of Trump, just 11% strongly support the plan.
Among strong Trump disapprovers, 82% strongly oppose tearing down the East Wing and building a ballroom, while a much smaller 37% of those who somewhat disapprove of the president strongly oppose the plan.
Just about four in 10 conservative Republicans (42%) say they are strongly in favor of the plan. Conversely, 82% of liberal Democrats and 73% of moderate and conservative Democrats oppose it strongly.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. The partisan divisions are 28% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 41% independents or something else.
See more details on ABC News’ survey methodology here.
