CHICAGO — Charges against four Broadview protesters accused of impeding immigration officers were dropped Thursday after it was determined federal prosecutors committed misconduct during the case’s grand jury proceedings, a U.S. Attorney’s Office official said.
The dropping of all charges against the four protesters quickly followed U.S. District Judge April Perry’s decision to shelve the start of the trial in the case, which was slated for next week. Perry’s decision came after a closed-door hearing Thursday regarding grand jury testimony the defense attorneys were seeking to obtain.
It’s the latest twist in one of the most high-profile prosecutions to emerge from last year’s Operation Midway Blitz. It began as a felony conspiracy case involving six defendants that turned into four facing misdemeanor charges: Kat Abughazaleh, Michael Rabbitt, Andre Martin and Brian Straw. Cat Sharp and Jocelyn Walsh were also originally charged, but prosecutors dropped all charges against them in March.
After previously dropping the conspiracy case against the four remaining defendants, prosecutors moved forward with a misdemeanor charge of “impeding” a federal officer during a September protest in Broadview.
But those charges will not move forward, a decision prosecutors made after defendants and their attorneys heard a summary from Perry during the closed-door hearing Thursday about “errors” prosecutors made during the grand jury proceedings, United State’s Attorney Andrew Boutros, in charge of the Northern District of Illinois, said in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse Thursday.
Speaking after the hearing, defense attorneys said Perry described concerning behavior from top law enforcement officials, including “vouching,” dismissing jurors and one of the prosecutors having an interaction with a juror outside of the grand jury proceedings.
After dismissing the charges, Boutros went on to explain that he didn’t believe the errors were done “intentionally” by any prosecutors.
“As upset as you are … I was upset, too,” Boutros said to Perry.
As Perry concluded the hearing, she said the issue of any potential sanctions over the misconduct can wait until later. She said what mattered now was focusing on the four people who no longer have to go to trial.
“Hopefully they will never have to come back to this building” unless they want to, Perry said.
The four former-defendants hugged their loved ones and teared up as the hearing ending.
Chris Parente, who represented Straw, called the behavior Perry described from the grand jury proceedings as “gross conduct.”
Protesters crowd around a car during a protest near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at 1930 Beach St. in Broadview, Ill. on Sept. 26, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Perry told attorneys in the closed hearing that she had never seen anything worse than what she read in these transcripts, according to Parente.
“As a former prosecutor of 15 years, … I have never even heard of something as bad as what took place in this grand jury session,” Parente said following the hearing.
One of the concerning elements of misconduct was vouching, which refers to an attorney making a guarantee in front of a jury to a witness’ reliability or truthfulness, a determination that is to only be made by jury members.
Parente described the act generally as prosecutors telling the grand jury “‘Hey, don’t worry, I wouldn’t bring a case unless it’s just.’”
“Like, that’s 101 — you can’t do that,” he said.
Perry’s decision to delay the case came out of a last-minute, closed-door hearing Thursday to discuss the government’s choice to redact portions of the grand jury transcripts that led to the defendants’ indictment last fall.
Defense attorneys had been advocating for prosecutors to hand the transcripts over to the judge for review to see if there was any “misconduct” in how the prosecutors had represented the case to the grand jury.
Perry had sided with the defense team during a hearing Monday and agreed to look at the transcripts. Prosecutors announced their decision to drop the charges shortly after the Thursday hearing Perry called at the last minute to discuss the grand jury testimony.
The trial was set to start Tuesday, beginning with jury selection.
Kat Abughazaleh exits with her legal team after a hearing at Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop on May 18, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Michael Rabbitt exits after a hearing at Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop on May 18, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Those charged in the case are mostly progressive politicos. Earlier this year, Abughazaleh unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, which represents the North Side, and Martin was her campaign field director. Rabbitt is a 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson, and Straw has served on west suburban Oak Park’s board of trustees since 2023 and practices as an attorney.
Sharp is the chief of staff for Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) and was running for Cook County Board before she suspended her campaign due to the charges. Walsh is a musician who frequented Broadview to speak out against injustice through music.
Earlier this month, prosecutors dropped the most serious felony conspiracy charge against the remaining four defendants. This means the now-cancelled trial would have been the most high-profile federal misdemeanor case to go before a jury in recent memory.
Abughazaleh, Rabbitt, Martin and Straw were facing a misdemeanor charge of “impeding” a federal officer outside the Broadview U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in September amid Operation Midway Blitz. Prosecutors have accused them of surrounding a government vehicle as it approached the Broadview building “with the intent to hinder and impede” the agent from proceeding, according to the indictment.
The now-dropped charges centered around a Sept. 26 protest and accused Abughazaleh, Rabbitt, Martin, Straw, Sharp and Walsh of surrounding a government vehicle as it approached the Broadview building “with the intent to hinder and impede” an agent from proceeding. According to the indictment, those six, and others, “banged aggressively” on the vehicle, crowded together and pushed against the vehicle.
Someone scratched the word “PIG” on the vehicle and broke a side mirror and windshield wiper, according to the indictment. Abughezaleh and others were accused of putting their hands on the hood of the vehicle and remaining “directly” in its path.
This highly unusual case has already seen much back-and-forth between prosecutors and defense attorneys, with the judge at one point highlighting there was a notable level of “vitriol and emotion” being displayed in briefs by both attorneys.
Brian Straw exits after a hearing at Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop on May 18, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Andre Martin exits after a hearing at Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop on May 18, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Defense attorneys argued the case was politically motivated, pointing to the fact that five of those originally charged were local Democratic politicians or candidates speaking out against President Donald Trump’s immigration blitz.
Prosecutors denied any influence from the White House, calling the accusations “the product of fevered paranoia and delusional speculation, not to mention grossly disingenuous and thoroughly irresponsible,” one prosecutor said.
The case is the latest example of charges brought against protesters during Operation Midway Blitz to crumble in court.
A Block Club analysis found at least 32 people in the Chicago area were charged with non-immigration crimes in federal court linked to protests and other altercations with immigration agents between September and November during Operation Midway Blitz.
Nearly half of those cases were swiftly dismissed
This is a breaking news story. Check back for more details.
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