Federal prosecutors have dropped all remaining criminal charges against four protesters who were accused of interfering with law enforcement outside an immigration detention center near Chicago.
The case involved demonstrators who protested outside the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, during a federal immigration enforcement operation. The defendants were part of a group that became known as the “Broadview Six.”
The four remaining defendants were Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, Michael Rabbitt, Andre Martin and Brian Straw. They had originally faced felony conspiracy charges, but those were later reduced to misdemeanor counts of impeding a federal officer.
The charges have now been dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot bring the same charges again.
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The decision came after questions emerged over redactions made to grand jury transcripts. U.S. District Judge April Perry said she was shocked by what she saw in the transcripts and said trust had been broken.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros told the judge that prosecutors were abandoning the case. He said the government was disturbed by the issues raised, though he also argued that the protesters’ conduct was unacceptable.
Prosecutors had alleged that the demonstrators surrounded a vehicle carrying an immigration agent during a protest in September. They claimed protesters banged on the vehicle, pushed against it, scratched the word “pig” into the car and damaged a rear windshield wiper.
The protesters and their attorneys argued that the case targeted people exercising their First Amendment rights. Defense lawyers said the charges should never have been brought and said they would seek access to the unredacted grand jury transcripts.
The collapse of the Broadview case is a setback for the Trump administration’s broader legal efforts tied to immigration protests and federal enforcement operations in major U.S. cities.
Judge Perry said she may consider a hearing on possible sanctions against the U.S. attorney’s office over the handling of the grand jury material.
The case is one of several Chicago-area prosecutions linked to immigration enforcement that have recently fallen apart. Federal prosecutors also dropped charges in another case involving a Chicago-area schoolteacher who had been shot by a border patrol agent, while a separate jury acquitted another man accused in a case involving a border patrol official.
The latest dismissal highlights growing legal and political tensions over federal immigration enforcement, protest rights and the government’s handling of cases involving ICE-related demonstrations.
The DOJ just dropped all charges against the Broadview Six.
I am absolutely livid. There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for this.
These individuals were caught on clear video committing serious crimes, yet the Department of Justice under this administration decided to let them walk… https://t.co/JBGJS6GsqX pic.twitter.com/vC3CnIRa3j
— Kim "Katie" USA (@KimKatieUSA) May 22, 2026
