By Mayukh B

Copyright inquisitr

A scene unfolded outside an ICE processing facility in Illinois when Kat Abughazaleh, a candidate for Congress, was violently thrown to the ground by a masked federal officer. The democrat is 26-year-old and reportedly launched her run for Illinois’ 9th District in March, and subsequently joined the demonstrators outside the Broadview ICE facility early Friday morning. This initially started as a protest but eventually turned into chaos.

According to reports, the incident happened around 6:30 a.m., when cameras all over the place captured the scene when an unidentified ICE officer grabbed Abughazaleh across the chest, and also shoved her forward, subsequently lifting her off the feet and slamming her hard onto the pavement.

Abughazaleh later told reporters that things took a turn when agents snatched a protester. “This has never happened at one of these protests, where they kidnapped a protester,” she said. “And we saw through the gate that they were in chains, being put in a van. And so everyone that was there joined arm-in-arm to block the van and tried to rescue the person who was exercising their First Amendment rights.” And federal agents didn’t hold back and attacked with tear gas and pepper balls. One officer even told her, “Your First Amendment rights are on the sidewalk.”

Situations even got worse when the tear gas hit the media, and according to reports, a couple of arrests took place, and members of the press weren’t safe either. NBC Chicago’s Jenn Schanz said, “We just got sprayed with ― I don’t know if it was tear gas, or pepper spray ― I know it stung my eyes. It was very hard to breathe.” She added, “Me and several other members of the media had to leave, and run, and get some water. My eyes are still stinging a little bit.”

I’m Kat Abughazaleh and I’m running for Congress. pic.twitter.com/tEtaNcc5xL
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) March 24, 2025

It is known that Abughazaleh suffered from skinned fingers when the takedown happened; however, he still insisted that he wouldn’t stop fighting. “Now is not the time to equivocate on ICE, not the time to capitulate on ICE,” she declared. “This facility is committing crimes against humanity… They’re not given beds, they’re not given hygienic products, they are not given hot meals. They are treated worse than animals.”

She is known for developing her career in tracking right-wing extremism, and even warned that ignoring authoritarianism surely comes with consequences. “If I’ve learned anything through my work covering misinformation and disinformation and violent rhetoric on the right, it’s that it never stops with any one group,” she said. “And capitulating and making excuses will always come back to bite you in the ass ― not to mention that people’s basic humanity is being violated.”

As I told @newrepublic, “Once last week, twice today, ICE has picked me up and thrown me on the ground. Honestly, it doesn’t compare to what our neighbors who are trapped inside the Broadview processing facility are going through. They’re committing crimes against humanity…
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) September 20, 2025

Despite being manhandled, Abughazaleh said she’s willing to endure worse if it means protecting vulnerable detainees. “I think it’s time to stop being polite,” she said. “It is time to yell. It is time to be out there. It is time to be willing to be manhandled by officers. Because guess what? The people in that facility are enduring even worse shit right now.” Another protest at the Broadview ICE facility was already scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, with tensions expected to rise even higher.