All remaining charges against four activists accused of protesting outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, were dismissed Thursday by federal prosecutors in Chicago, following a judge's examination of grand jury misconduct allegations directed at the prosecutor's office, according to CBS News Chicago.
At a closed hearing concerning redacted grand jury transcripts, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said he had only recently learned of the alleged misconduct — which encompassed a prosecutor holding private meetings with a grand juror and the removal of jurors who expressed opposition to the charges before an indictment was ultimately returned. Boutros offered no challenge to those allegations, according to CNN.
During the sealed proceeding, Perry stated that nothing in her extensive experience reviewing grand jury transcripts — which she described as numbering in the hundreds or thousands — had prepared her for what she encountered in the records from this case, according to CBS News Chicago. Among the violations Perry outlined was what she called improper prosecutorial vouching — a practice in which the assistant U.S. attorney staked her own credibility on the validity of the charges — as well as the removal from deliberations of grand jurors who had been skeptical of the government's theory.
Thursday's dismissal carried a with-prejudice designation, barring any future refiling of the charges. Perry additionally indicated she might convene a separate proceeding to consider sanctions against the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to The Associated Press.
The four remaining defendants were Kat Abughazaleh, a onetime Democratic congressional candidate; Andre Martin, a member of her campaign staff; Oak Park village trustee Brian Straw; and Michael Rabbitt, a Democratic committeeperson. Each had faced a single misdemeanor count of forcibly impeding a federal agent after a felony conspiracy charge was dropped last month.
The case stemmed from a September 2025 demonstration outside the Broadview facility, which served as a central location during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area. Prosecutors alleged the defendants surrounded an immigration agent's vehicle with other protesters, according to the AP.
Josh Herman, who represented Abughazaleh, called the prosecution a mistake that should not have been initiated, according to CNN. Chris Parente, Straw's attorney and a veteran of fifteen years as a federal prosecutor, told reporters outside court that the grand jury conduct Perry outlined was unlike anything he had come across in his legal career, according to CBS News Chicago.
Prosecutors required three rounds before a grand jury would return an indictment. When the initial panel concluded its deliberations, it issued a no bill — a finding that the evidence did not support charges — according to CBS News Chicago. Charges had previously been dropped against two other original defendants in March.
Prosecutors' inability to secure convictions in this matter reflects a broader pattern in which the Justice Department has repeatedly come up short in cases targeting people accused of interfering with federal officers during immigration enforcement, according to The Associated Press.
