Federal prosecutors moved to drop charges against two defendants, Chicago musician Joselyn Walsh and former Cook County Board of Commissioners candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, in its case against the so-called “Broadview Six” on Thursday afternoon.
In October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois filed conspiracy charges against six individuals, including Walsh and Sharp, for actions tied to a September protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Federal prosecutors alleged the defendants conspired to “interrupt, hinder, or impede” the activities of a federal law enforcement officer by surrounding his government vehicle. Each of the six co-defendants, including Kat Abughazaleh — a Democratic frontrunner in Tuesday’s primary election to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District — pleaded not guilty to the charges during their November arraignment.
Of the case’s original six co-defendants, Walsh was the only individual not holding elected office nor working on a political campaign. Sharp, who currently serves as the chief of staff for Chicago’s 40th Ward alderperson, suspended her campaign for the county board in January to focus on her defense, citing the emotional and financial costs that accompany the legal process.
In a joint news release Thursday, Sharp and Walsh celebrated the dismissal but raised continued concerns about the case and what Sharp called ICE’s “abuse of immigrants and refugees” in local communities.
While Walsh wrote she feels “relieved,” she added the dismissal does not change the “disruption” the case has caused to her life and maintained she was a “victim of ICE violence.”
The dismissal comes after several changes to the case, including an effort from the prosecution to clarify and narrow its allegations against the co-defendants in the case’s last status hearing Feb. 27. In that update, federal prosecutors acknowledged the alleged conspiracy between the co-defendants was “spontaneous.”
Remaining co-defendants include Abughazaleh; her deputy campaign manager, Andre Martin; Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw; and 45th Ward Democratic Committeeperson Michael Rabbitt. Except for Martin, all co-defendants are either Democratic elected officials or candidates for public office.
Their trial, set for May 26, will come about two months after Tuesday’s primary election, which has become increasingly competitive, according to a recent poll.
Abughazaleh’s campaign manager, Katherine Thames, welcomed the motion in a news release from her campaign Thursday afternoon, but asserted that no conspiracy occurred in the first place.
“The fact that these charges are now being dropped only underscores what we have said from the beginning: this is a political prosecution that targets dissent,” Thames wrote.
In a statement to The Daily on Thursday evening, Joshua Herman, Abughazaleh’s lawyer, also maintained that charges should have never been filed.
He argued the six co-defendants were lawfully exercising their constitutional right to protest.
“As the government continues to try and figure out what it is now calling a ‘spontaneous conspiracy’ charge, we will continue to fight the baseless case and are confident that Kat will be vindicated,” Herman wrote.
In her news release, Sharp similarly claimed the motion to dismiss proves the indictments were “flawed from the outset.”
“Furthermore, it remains clear that none of the defendants in this case should have been charged,” Sharp wrote. “I am confident that all six of us will be vindicated.”
The case’s next status hearing is scheduled for March 31 at 10 a.m.
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Related Stories:
— Federal prosecutors to reduce conspiracy allegations in ‘Broadview Six’ protest case
— May trial scheduled for case charging Abughazaleh for actions tied to Broadview ICE facility protest
— Abughazaleh, five co-defendants seek spring trial for actions tied to Broadview ICE facility protest
