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Claiming “First Amendment” Rights
“This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights,” Abughazaleh wrote defiantly on X, attempting to paint herself as a martyr for the progressive cause.
But many online weren’t buying it.
“Kat Abughazaleh admittedly obstructed ICE agents,” one critic wrote, tagging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Make a legal example out of this criminal.”
Another pointed to the law directly: 18 U.S.C. § 111, which “criminalizes the acts of forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with any federal officer or employee while they are engaged in the performance of their official duties.” That felony can carry up to 8 years behind bars.
And one user cut right to the point: “Why would she not be arrested? We have to give these people consequences or they will continue to behave this way.”
WATCH:
Political Stunt or Legal Trouble?
The altercation could backfire spectacularly for the progressive hopeful, or it could give her the media oxygen she’s clearly chasing. With ten Democrats competing in the primary, attention is her most valuable currency.
According to her latest campaign filings, Abughazaleh has roughly $666,000 cash on hand — the largest war chest in the crowded race. She’s seeking to fill the seat of longtime Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who announced earlier this year that she won’t run again. The district is considered safely Democrat, meaning the real contest is inside the primary itself.
Pattern of Lawless Stunts
This isn’t the first time left-wing lawmakers or candidates have tangled with ICE. Earlier this year, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), another Squad member, was charged with assaulting a federal officer after a brawl outside a New Jersey detention center.
Even Newark’s Democrat mayor Ras Baraka was hauled off in cuffs at the same event, though his charges were later dropped. McIver has pleaded not guilty, with her trial scheduled for November.
The Bigger Picture
The message from these episodes is unmistakable: the radical wing of the Democratic Party is embracing lawless stunts to score political points. Blocking traffic, clashing with federal officers, and undermining immigration law aren’t “protests” — they’re acts of obstruction.
ICE agents were doing their jobs. Abughazaleh made a calculated choice to put herself in their way. She wasn’t silenced. She wasn’t denied free speech. She interfered with the enforcement of U.S. law. And she paid the predictable price.
The only real question now is whether the Department of Justice will step up and prosecute — or if yet another radical Democrat will be allowed to skate past accountability.
