Federal prosecutors in Chicago are narrowing the controversial conspiracy case they brought against six people, including four Democratic politicians, who were involved in protests last fall outside the suburban immigration facility central to Operation Midway Blitz.
The feds also offered clarity about the allegations Thursday in the first hearing before U.S. District Judge April Perry since the lead prosecutor in the case left for a new assignment in the U.S. Senate.
Kat Abughazaleh, who is running in next month’s primary for the Democratic nomination for Illinois’ 9th District congressional seat, is among the six defendants. So is Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw and former Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp.
Also charged are 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, Andre Martin and musician Joselyn Walsh.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan told the judge his team plans to remove language in the indictment alleging the six conspired to injure an agent who drove an SUV toward the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 26.
Other language in the indictment refers to a conspiracy to prevent the agent from discharging his duties and to injure his property. Hogan said it’s unlikely the first of those two clauses would also be removed, but added, “we’re going to take a look at everything.”
The indictment alleges that the six and others surrounded the SUV, banged and pushed against it, scratched it and even etched the word “PIG” onto it.
Prosecutors also acknowledged during the hearing that the timeframe of the alleged conspiracy is limited to Sept. 26, that it was “spontaneous” with no evidence of an explicit agreement, and that all potential co-conspirators were present at Broadview at the time.
Those acknowledgments came in response to a bid for a so-called bill of particulars, through which defense attorneys hoped to force prosecutors to identify all alleged conspirators, the timeframe of the conspiracy, and under which theory the feds planned to proceed.
Perry did not grant their request, but she told them “we’ve gotten you quite a bit of the way there.” She said their real problem was that they “fundamentally do not believe the evidence supports a charge or a conviction.”
“A bill of particulars is not going to solve that problem,” Perry said. “A jury will.”
The plan to narrow the case comes as prosecutions tied to Midway Blitz continue to collapse at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Of 32 known defendants charged with nonimmigration crimes linked to the campaign, 17 have already been cleared.
None of the remaining 15 have been convicted. A defense attorney even told a judge Thursday that one member of that group has had “a change of heart” after discussing a pretrial diversion agreement — and now “wishes to proceed to trial.”
Only one such case has gone to trial so far, and it ended with an acquittal last month. The Broadview conspiracy case is set for trial May 26.
The former lead prosecutor in the Broadview case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, withdrew Feb. 13. She’s now serving as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to a source.
A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Mecklenburg has not been detailed to his staff. A spokesperson for Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, would not comment.
Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, called Mecklenburg “an experienced prosecutor who applied for and received a temporary detail.” He said, “we wish her the best and look forward to her returning to our office.”
Defense attorneys for the six Broadview defendants say newly produced body-worn camera footage contradicts the feds’ claims about the case. The attorneys detailed the events of Sept. 26 in their recent court filings.
They wrote that the defendants and others engaged in a “Jericho Walk” near the Broadview facility, walking back and forth across a public crosswalk at Harvard Street and 25th Avenue.
Broadview police officers supervised the Jericho Walk and helped control traffic, including by stopping the demonstration “and parting the crowd of protesters when vehicles sought to pass through,” the attorneys wrote.
A Ford Expedition driven by an ICE agent turned “directly” into the crowd around 7:45 a.m., according to the defense filings. The attorneys said they’d seen no evidence of the ICE agent waiting for police assistance, but rather that he opted instead to “drive directly into where the crowd was gathered.”
Footage shows many of the defendants behind the Expedition as it drove toward the facility, the defense attorneys wrote. Abughazaleh,a journalist and streamer, even warned the crowd “that’s private property back there, come back,” according to their filings.
That’s “contrary to the purported goals of the alleged conspiracy,” the defense argued.
Prosecutors say the evidence shows “Rabbitt bracing his hands and body against the vehicle and hitting it, and Walsh wrapping her arms around the driver’s side mirror.” There’s also allegedly video of Straw “throwing his drink at the windshield before planting his weight against the front of the car.”
But defense attorneys say there’s footage of Rabbitt and Walsh moving away from the SUV, and of Straw “being pushed by an unknown individual from his backside.”