Breaking News from Pod Save America - Trump Administration Indicts Democrat Candidate For Protesting ICE

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Kat Abughazaleh joins Jon Lovett to discuss protesting ICE in Chicago and being indicted by the Trump Administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, everybody. I'm here with Kat Abu Ghazale. She is a candidate for Congress in Illinois. She's also now been indicted by the Justice Department over her participation in protests of their immigration policies and their mass deportation crackdown. I want to start by showing a moment where Kat was thrown to the ground by goons from the Trump administration on a different day than the day. related to the indictment just to give a sense of what has been happening out there. So, Kat, first of all, I just want to, how are you doing? This is like, you know, I know you're going to fight it. I know you're going to defend your First Amendment rights. I know that you view this as a political prosecution, but it's got to be fucking scary. Yeah, I mean, it is. It's scary.

It's surreal. and it's also totally expected. I mean, this is what this administration does. They go after people who disagree with them. And this case is an attempt to criminalize protest, to criminalize freedom of speech and to criminalize freedom of association. So I know you can't talk about the specific events of that day

because obviously they're coming after you and it will be you have to protect yourself. More broadly, you know, just today there was a report court of a case that was dismissed, they were seeking a penalty of up to 20 years in prison for inflicting bodily injury on a Homeland Security Investigation Special Agent. It turns out, according to the dismissal, that agent scraped his arm when he punched a hole in the defendant's driver-side window during an investigatory stop. We have seen efforts to trump up charges in all kinds of ways. Some of them, they've continued to pursue. Some

of them they've been unable to defend when in front of actual judges and juries. What's happening right now with regard to what's your case and more broadly? Yeah, I mean, this is what authoritarian do. They try to find any excuse to punish their political enemies, to punish populations they deem as enemies. We've seen that a lot in how ICE is functioning. Yeah, the Trump administration has repelled from Black Hawk helicopters into residential buildings. They have raided neighborhoods while kids' Halloween parties are going on.

They have been terrorizing the Chicago area. And I think if you're taking them at their word, the number they gave out of like a thousand people was 10 of those detained had criminal records. And that's if you're taking the Trump administration at their word. That is the highest number they would admit to. And that is just one of the best examples to show that this has never been about crime. This has never even been about immigration. This is about securing and cementing power for the Trump administration. You know, fascism doesn't go after the political figures first, doesn't go after the people with power

and a platform. It goes after 238 men who are deported without due process to a concentration camp in another country. And now they're feeling more confident because a lot of the opposition leaders have not put up enough of an opposition. The Trump administration feels confident in indicting political enemies and now candidates. So speaking of what elected leaders have been doing, Governor Pritzker in Illinois today basically pled with the Trump administration to not. go after people during Halloween. There was this footage of a confrontation in a suburb of Chicago in which a Halloween parade was disturbed. And there's tear gas and chemical agents. And during a Halloween parade, what do you make of Pritzker's overall response? And then what are you

hearing from your potential constituents about what's happening? Yeah, Illinois has led the way in resisting Trump. and ICE's overreach. But there's still a lot of work to be done. There's, we need to be able to inspect ice facilities like the Broadview one where I've been protesting at. We need to hold these officers accountable and sure that they're unmasked, that they have badges.

The entire time I protested at Broadview, I have seen two badges. And that's over like eight weeks. We need to know what association they have with the government. This isn't much to ask. Pretty much every other law enforcement officer is subjected to the same. same rules, I should not be an exception. And we need to make sure that those are met. What I'm hearing from constituents, people in the 9th district, is fear and anger. And that's understandable. A lot of people now in the Chicago area have had personal run-ins with ice.

I live in Rogers Park and, you know, at our campaign office, 7016 North Clark Street, if you're in the area, we give out whistles for free. You can literally walk in the door, take one off the wall, not even say a word to us. And we have patrols in our neighborhood. of people with whistles from all over. Some people have 3D printed them for us or just 3D printed them at home. This was spearheaded by Protect Rogers Park, which has organized a lot of school watches

and walks around the neighborhood and patrols. And so you blow the whistle three short times if you see ice, three long times if they're actively detaining someone. And I think that's really an encapsulation of how Chicago is feeling, both afraid and defiant. And that's why Trump is weaponizing the justice system now because they thought goons and masks would be enough to scare people off.

And it's not. And they're hoping that this will. Are you surprised by how quickly we, I'm sure you're quite surprised, but are you overall? But are you surprised by how quickly we got to masked agents in the streets grabbing people in this way? Yeah, I covered the right as a researcher and journalist for, a long time and i and my colleagues were all like this is going to happen in fact they did an hour long explainer on white christian nationalism and project 2025 before the election and these are all things i'm not surprised have happened but even like my colleagues with that are pessimistic we did not expect it to happen this fast uh we are not even a year in we have massed agents

on the streets we have indictments of political figures we have people being deported without due process. And I would actually want to talk about the conditions at Broadview, the facility I've been protesting at. The reason we are protesting is because of these unlawful abductions and detainments and terror campaigns. And at that facility, which should be allowed to be inspected by federal elected officials, but ICE is not allowing them to do that. People are being denied beds. Grandmothers and pregnant women are sleeping on concrete. Dozens of men are in a single cell. They're denied hot meals, access to hygienic facilities. The latest description of what is happening in there by someone who was detained talks about people being brought out on stretchers, going into cardiac arrest, being denied water, given fake translators.

So they'll sign their own self-deportation. This is why we were protesting. And this is why the Trump administration is trying to punish us. This video is brought to you by Simply Safe Home Security. Simply Safe is the new way to keep your home safe. Typical security systems only react once someone is in. inside your home, real security stops a crime before it even starts. With SimplySafe, the moment someone steps onto your property, AI-powered cameras detect threats

while they're still outside your home and alert real security agents right away. To get 50% off your new system, go to Simplysafe.com slash crooked. That's simplysafe.com slash crooked for 50% off. There's no safe like Simplysafe. Your experience is going to get more attention than a lot of people who aren't candidates for Congress, don't have platforms, I know, and I understand and believe that you are fighting this, that you're standing strong. But I really just would love to understand what the experience has been like. And specifically, like, when did you find out that this was going to happen?

What was your reaction to it? Because, like, I do think that story is a microcosm of what anybody going through this kind of persecution might experience. Yeah, I mean, that's one thing that I try to highlight in all of this. You showed that video of me being thrown by an ICE agent. That's actually the third time an agent has thrown me. And you're almost at your free sub. Yeah, I get one free throw with five of them. It's one of these things where like, it's abhorrent that someone can use excessive force and have no accountability. But I think it resonated with a lot of people because despite my last name and like being Palestinian, you look at me and you don't see that. You see a little blonde woman being thrown to the ground and that's supposed to be an exception from the horrors of state

violence. And I am very aware of the platform I have and I want to use it in the most effective way possible. You know, we have been, we have now legal fees on top of campaign expenses, which John you know are a fortune. And so we have had an outpouring of support of people, you know, don't and wanting to help us with legal stuff. And we're so lucky for that, especially because this case will determine our First Amendment rights. But at the same time, I also am thinking about all of the people who have been rounded up by eyes for the color of their skin, what language they speak, where they live, and they can't afford a lawyer. Or they're scared of finding one. Or they're scared of going to the grocery store.

Or they aren't even given the option to speak to a lawyer. And it makes me resolute in wanting to fight this to submit our rights further to make sure that they're being stood up for. But it's also really important to remember that not everyone has that same privilege. And as far as my initial reaction, don't really remember. I think I was just like, what? And then sat down and knitted for like 20 minutes while I got my thoughts together. And then we called a lot of lawyers, a lot of lawyers. so many lawyers.

It's got to be shocking. It's got to be really scary. It's like, you know, like I hear you, your instinct is so clearly to pivot to what to do and how to fight back. But you don't know how this is going to end even if you're in the right. Like you're now up to the, in some sense, luck of a judge, of potentially a jury. And like, even though you know you're in the right, that has to be on some. level really terrifying. I think about all the things that I love. You know, my partner, my cat, hot sauce, sleeping, really soft blankets, video games, my family, of course. And, you know, that just

doesn't happen in jail. It doesn't happen in the Broadview Processing Center. I don't want to go there, but also I don't regret protesting and exercising my First Amendment right. And this is not a matter of wrongdoing. These are my constitutional rights and the administration wants to punish us for using them. I plan on pleading not guilty and I plan on winning. Kat, what video games you're playing right now? I'm playing Hollow Night. We've been doing live streams. So we've completely ditched call time, which is a huge dub, as you know. And we're doing campaign live streams. Today we're actually going to do a pumpkin carving one. We've raised more. doing that than doing call time. So everyone's been like play Silk Song, but I haven't played

Hollow Night. So doing Halloween night. I'm trying to Haley. I'm trying to Hades 2 right now. Did you do Hades 2? I'm trying. That's like literally, but I'm just starting it. Hell yeah. It's better than Hades 1. I loved Hades 1. I loved Hades 1. Kat Abugazela. Thank you so much. Good luck. Keep up the fight and keep us posted as this develops. Thank you so much. And you know, if anyone wants to support us, you can do so at catforillinois.com. Cal with a K.