Judge stunned by DOJ conduct in Illinois anti-ICE protest prosecution dismisses 'Broadview Six' charges

All members of the Broadview Six anti-ICE protest group in Chicago, including former congressional candidate Kat Abughazelah, were cleared of charges after alleged prosecutorial misconduct emerged from grand jury transcripts containing critical redactions. U.S. District Judge April Perry expressed shock at the redactions and described unprecedented prosecutorial behavior in the transcripts. After a closed hearing, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced that all remaining charges were dismissed with prejudice, preventing refiling. The case gained national attention due to Abughazelah’s public criticism of immigration policies and because the prosecution occurred amid broader federal crackdowns on anti-ICE protests. A transcript later became public, showing Boutros claimed he was unaware of much of the alleged misconduct and asserted no prosecutor intended to mislead the court.

"“Although I am not going to prejudge the issue without a hearing, I will say that I was incredibly shocked by the redactions that were made,” U.S. District Judge April Perry said in scathing remarks during a closed hearing on Thursday. “I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of grand jury transcripts involving prosecutors who are the most junior of prosecutors to several U.S. Attorneys who appeared before the grand jury. I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”"

"After the closed hearing, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced that all remaining charges against the Six - who were originally indicted in October 2025 for protesting outside the Broadview ICE Detention Center the prior month - had been dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled."

"An eye-opening transcript of the closed hearing was made public on Thursday night, revealing that Boutros claimed to be “unaware” of much of his office's alleged misconduct during the grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment, telling Perry, “It is my very sincere belief, Your Honor, that no prosecutor acted intentionally in misleading you, and that there was no desire to mislead"

Read at Advocate.com