{"id":2605777,"date":"2026-05-22T09:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-drop-charges-against-chicago-ice-protestors\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:25:25","slug":"prosecutors-drop-charges-against-chicago-ice-protestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prosecutors-drop-charges-against-chicago-ice-protestors\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors drop charges against Chicago ICE protestors"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fprosecutors-drop-charges-against-chicago-ice-protestors%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2605777&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Federal prosecutors in Chicago said they are dismissing-with prejudice-misdemeanor charges against four of the \u201cBroadview Six\u201d protesters who demonstrated against Immigration and Customs Enforcement last fall. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros cited concerns about grand jury misconduct after learning, during the proceedings, that grand jurors had been dismissed and the case had been re-presented.  <\/p>\n<p>As a result, the scheduled trial next week was canceled and the charges cannot be refiled.Earlier, two other defendants had already had their charges dropped. Prosecutors had alleged the group surrounded an ICE agent\u2019s van at a west-suburban processing facility to hinder and impede the agent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmakers-activists-call-to-confront-chinas-most-sophisticated-and-comprehensive-transnational-repression\/\" title=\"Lawmakers, activists urge action against China&#039;s extensive transnational repression.\">including video evidence<\/a> of protesters trying to block an SUV from entering. Judge April Perry criticized Boutros for continuing to back the prosecution.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal prosecutors revealed Thursday that the government is dropping charges against several <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/illinois\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"206\">Illinois<\/a> protestors who demonstrated against<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ice\/\"> Immigration and Customs Enforcement <\/a>last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, Chicago\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-muscles-out-chicago-prosecutor-hot-on-the-heels-of-powerful-dems\/\" title=\"Biden Muscles Out ... Prosecutor Hot on the Heels of Powerful Dems\">top federal prosecutor<\/a>, said he is dropping charges against the remaining \u201cBroadview Six\u201d defendants just days before their rare federal trial for misdemeanor charges, due to concerns about grand jury misconduct.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4578333\/doj-largest-autism-fraud-scheme-tied-minnesota-medicaid-theft\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DOJ unveils \u2018largest autism fraud scheme\u2019 tied to $90 million Minnesota Medicaid theft<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4577970\/first-ice-officer-charged-for-assault-in-minneapolis-turns-himself-in-to-police\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>First ICE officer charged for assault in Minneapolis turns himself in to police<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4576815\/tennessee-man-jail-kirk-assassination-meme-victory-first-amendment-settlement\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Tennessee man jailed over Kirk assassination meme hails victory for First Amendment after settlement<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charges of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nh-supreme-court-justice-to-return-to-bench-after-misdemeanor-charge\/\" title=\"NH Supreme Court justice to return to bench after misdemeanor charge\">single misdemeanor count<\/a> of forcibly impeding a federal agent are being dismissed with prejudice against Kat Abughazaleh, Andre Martin, Brian Straw, and Michael Rabbitt. The development comes amid allegations that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >grand jury transcripts showed<\/a> an initial grand jury refused to indict the defendants, and the case was later presented again after prosecutors dismissed certain grand jury members.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo one acted with the intent to mislead your honor, and I think that they were following your order to give the law,\u201d Boutros told U.S. District Judge April Perry, saying he became aware of the dismissal of grand jurors \u201cin real time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd as soon as I became aware of it, I called off that grand jury session,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move means the trial that had been scheduled to begin next week was canceled, and that charges cannot be refiled against the four defendants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four defendants were among the demonstrators prosecutors targeted for their actions during an anti-ICE protest in the Chicago suburb of Broadview last fall. At the time, the city was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3841784\/dhs-rejects-pritzker-lies-about-ice-operations-in-chicago\/\">embroiled in protests<\/a> against the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3892724\/judge-dhs-release-immigrants-chicago\/\">on illegal immigrants in the area<\/a>. Six were originally charged in the Broadview incident. Federal prosecutors dropped all charges against two of the defendants in March and April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t deserve this,\u201d Abughazaleh said after the hearing,<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/news.wttw.com\/2026\/05\/21\/broadview-six-no-longer-set-trial-next-week-following-closed-door-meeting-over-grand\"> according to <\/a>WTTW, \u201cand no one deserves this, and there are going to be more prosecutions like this unless sanctions are actually given.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Abughazaleh was a one-time Democratic congressional candidate. Martin was on Abughazaleh\u2019s campaign staff.\u00a0Rabbitt is a Democratic committeeperson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors alleged that on Sept. 26, 2025, they surrounded an ICE agent\u2019s van \u201cwith the intent to hinder and impede\u201d alongside other demonstrators outside ICE\u2019s west suburban processing facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KatAbughazaleh\/status\/1971567602003820796\"> video posted to her social media <\/a>accounts that day, Abughazaleh and more than a dozen other protesters can be seen trying to physically prevent an SUV from entering the facility by pushing back on the car while chanting \u201cup, up with liberation and down, down with deportations,\u201d according to the outlet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boutros said the incident was \u201cunacceptable in a civilized society. It is for the grace of God that that agent moved at 2 miles per hour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4578169\/trump-denies-aircraft-carrier-intimidate-cuba\/\">TRUMP DENIES AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP DEPLOYMENT IS MEANT TO INTIMIDATE CUBA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perry, the judge, slammed Boutros.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou are significantly undercutting your mea culpa here by standing behind the charges and continuing to vilify these particular defendants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal prosecutors drop charges against Illinois protestors; Broadview Six trials canceled due to grand jury concerns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2605778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26014849565799.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[4387,64720,8364,5169],"class_list":["post-2605777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-chicago","tag-dropped-charges","tag-ice","tag-prosecutors"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26014849565799.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2605777"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2605781,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2605777\/revisions\/2605781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2605778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2605777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2605777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2605777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}