By Rounak Bagchi
Copyright timesnownews
A Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois was thrown to the ground by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during a protest outside an ICE facility, video footage from the scene appears to show. Kat Abughazaleh, 26, a progressive Democrat running for Congress, was participating in the demonstration on Friday outside the Broadview Processing Center, on the west side of Chicago. Footage posted to social media shows an individual believed to be an ICE agent pushing her, causing her to fall. Speaking to Newsweek, Abughazaleh described the incident: “First off, they shot pepper balls to the ground, and then said, ‘Your First Amendment rights are on the sidewalk.’ And then when we tried to get in the way of the van, they picked us up or dragged us away, for some people, shoved people. I was picked up and thrown.” Abughazaleh has participated in previous demonstrations at the facility. In a video posted to YouTube two days earlier, she recounted a similar experience of being allegedly thrown to the ground by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents while trying to block vans used in ICE operations. She also told Newsweek that federal agents removed one protester in chains, extending the protest longer than planned. “No one was violent. No one did anything that could possibly warrant being detained by federal officers. But they didn’t care,” she said. The demonstration comes amid heightened immigration enforcement in Chicago directed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. While the department says it is targeting the “worst of the worst,” advocates have expressed concern that not all detainees fit that description. The Department of Homeland Security responded to the protest by citing a previous statement from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin: “The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end. The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans.” Other local officials were present during Friday’s demonstration, including Democratic Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and Democratic Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who is also a congressional candidate. Biss shared on social media that federal forces used tear gas to disperse protesters, with video showing clashes outside the facility. DHS later accused protesters of assaulting law enforcement and claimed that tear gas had been thrown at officers, adding that requests for local police assistance had been denied. Abughazaleh told Newsweek that the Broadview facility, which is intended to temporarily hold immigrants, has reportedly detained individuals for several days without adequate accommodations. “There have been reports of pregnant women and grandmothers being forced to sleep on the concrete. They’re not given beds or hygienic products, or hot meals, actual meals,” she said. The enforcement campaign, known as Operation Midway Blitz, is part of a broader push by the Trump administration targeting cities it labels as sanctuary cities. Similar protests have been reported in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston, where local officials and residents have clashed with federal immigration authorities. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.
