The federal case against six protesters at the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, ended in dismissals in 2026 after defense lawyers challenged the grand-jury proceedings.
The case grew out of a demonstration on September 26, 2025, outside the ICE processing center in Broadview, a working-class suburb west of Chicago that became a flashpoint of "Operation Midway Blitz," the administration's intensified immigration crackdown across the Chicago area. Federal prosecutors alleged that the defendants, part of a larger crowd, surrounded and briefly blocked an immigration agent's van as it tried to leave the facility.
Prosecutors accused the six of conspiring to impede federal officers. The defendants included congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and local officials.
- Kat Abughazaleh — a journalist and Democratic candidate for Congress;
- Andre Martin — a member of Abughazaleh's campaign staff;
- Brian Straw — an Oak Park village trustee;
- Michael Rabbitt — a Democratic committeeperson;
- Catherine "Cat" Sharp — a former Cook County Board candidate; and
- Joselyn Walsh — a musician.
It unraveled from the inside. When defense lawyers finally pried loose the grand-jury transcripts, they said the record showed that a first grand jury had refused to indict. Prosecutors then, according to the defense, removed grand jurors who had voiced doubts about the case and re-presented it to a second panel, which returned the indictment. One juror had reportedly called the government's theory a "crock of s---." The transcripts, defense attorneys argued, also showed prosecutors improperly "vouching" for the case and communicating with jurors outside the formal proceedings.
The government's position eroded in stages: charges against two defendants were dropped in March 2026, the felony conspiracy charge against the remaining defendants — including Abughazaleh — was dropped in April, and the last counts were dismissed on May 21, 2026. Crucially, the dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be refiled. In court, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, the top federal prosecutor in Chicago, acknowledged that his office had made "significant errors" in the grand-jury process.
Clearing the charges did not end the matter. The presiding judge floated a separate hearing on possible sanctions against the U.S. Attorney's Office for the conduct before the grand jury. The now-cleared defendants have filed motions seeking discovery — including any evidence that the prosecution was driven by pressure from the White House to indict. Separately, the former lead prosecutor on the case was reported to have been fired from a new job in Washington after the misconduct allegations surfaced, and other Broadview protesters have sued over the government's collection of their DNA.
