A federal prosecutor announced Thursday that he would drop the charges against the remaining four members of the so-called “Broadview Six,” days before the case was set to go to trial.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said the government would dismiss all remaining charges with prejudice — meaning the case cannot be refiled — in a Thursday hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury by his assistants.
In October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois filed conspiracy charges against six individuals for actions related to a September protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Prosecutors alleged the defendants, including former congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, conspired to “interrupt, hinder, or impede” the activities of a federal law enforcement officer by surrounding his government vehicle. The six co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges at their November arraignment.
In March, federal prosecutors dropped charges against two of the defendants, Chicago musician Joselyn Walsh and former Cook County Board of Commissioners candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp. In late April, federal prosecutors announced they were dismissing the felony conspiracy charges against the remaining defendants and would instead proceed with lesser misdemeanor counts.
The decision to drop the charges came after defendants and their attorneys heard a summary from U.S. District Judge April Perry on Thursday about “errors” prosecutors made during the grand jury proceedings, according to Boutros.
After the hearing, defense attorneys said Perry had described concerning behavior from top law enforcement officials, including improperly dismissing jurors. One of the prosecutors also allegedly interacted with a juror outside of the grand jury proceedings.
Boutros told Perry he was “completely unaware” of the misconduct until late last month and that “no one acted with the intent to mislead, Your Honor.”
He then went on to defend the case, despite dropping the charges.
Boutros said the protestors’ conduct in September was “unacceptable in a civilized society. It is for the grace of God that that agent moved at two miles per hour.”
In a series of social media posts following Thursday’s hearing, Abughazaleh celebrated the outcome.
“F–K ICE NOW AND FOREVER,” she wrote. “Time to drink an entire bottle of champagne!!!”
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