Six people have been indicted on federal charges stemming from protests in Chicago. The indictment accuses the defendants of conspiring “to prevent by force, intimidation, and threat” an ICE officer from carrying out his “duties.”

The defendants include several people involved in progressive politics in Chicago, including Illinois congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, Cook County Democratic Committee member Michael Rabbitt, and Cat Sharp, a candidate for the Cook County Board of Commissioners and chief of staff to Alderperson Andre Vasquez.

If found guilty, the defendants could receive sentences of up to six years for the conspiracy counts and up to eight years for the intimidation charges.

Hundreds of protesters have regularly protested outside of the Broadview ICE facility since the Trump administration began its crackdown on immigrants in Chicago through “Operation Midway Blitz”. Broadview has come under increased scrutiny as immigration enforcement has escalated in the Chicago area. On Friday, Illinois immigrant rights advocates sued federal authorities over alleged “inhumane and torturous” conditions at Broadview.

The regular protests outside the facility have also been met with consistent repression by security forces. In a viral video from one such protest, Abughazaleh is thrown to the ground by federal agents.

Civil rights leaders have decried the state repression against protesters at Broadview, which has included physical violence as well as tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper-balls, and flash grenades.

Earlier this month, press and clergy filed a lawsuit arguing that the state violence against protesters at Broadview was a suppression of free speech rights. Following this lawsuit, District Judge Sara Ellis issued a restraining order prohibiting federal officers from using riot-control weapons or other force against clearly identified journalists, as well as against peaceful protesters and faith leaders who pose no immediate threat to law enforcement.

Protesters have accused Greg Bovino, the top Customs and Border Protection official in Illinois, of violating this restraining order by repeatedly tear gassing residents. In court filings, protesters allege that federal agents fired tear gas and pointed a gun at one demonstrator while saying, “bang, bang” and “you’re dead, liberal.”

Stephanie Lulay, executive editor of Block Club Chicago, said the newsroom has devoted substantial resources to covering DHS activity at the protests since September 19. “Since then, at least four of our staff or freelancers have told me they were struck by pepper balls and exposed to tear gas by federal agents at Broadview,” Lulay said. “We plan to continue reporting on these demonstrations, but our ability to meet our own standards is increasingly affected by concerns about violence and the risk of our employees and contractors being arrested.”

“This is a political prosecution, and a gross attempt to silence dissent” said Abughazaleh in a video responding to the indictment. Abughazaleh denounces the Trump administration for “trying to criminalize protest.”

Sharp said in a statement that she is “confident that a jury of my peers will see these charges for exactly what they are – another effort by the Trump administration to frighten people out of participating in protest and exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Immigration crackdown sparks protest

Trump’s immigration crackdown during his second term has sparked widespread fear among immigrant worker communities, but it has also fueled mass protest. These include protests in Los Angeles against militarized ICE raids over the summer, which included spontaneous protest against workplace raids as well as mass marches. This protest movement quickly spread to cities across the country who were also experiencing violent ICE raids.

Since Operation Midway Blitz began in September, Chicago has become a flashpoint in the struggle against Trump’s mass deportation operation. Not only have local groups and organizations been engaging in popular education around the history of the immigrant rights struggle and organizing “know your rights” trainings, but the people of the city have been engaged in spontaneous community resistance wherever they see ICE operations taking place. In response to the presence of ICE in the city, it has become commonplace for residents to get out of the cars, start filming and asking agents questions about what they’re doing. On October 18, in a massive show of force, Chicago residents took to the streets in one of the largest “No Kings Day” protests in the country on October 18, where Mayor Brandon Johnson called for a “general strike” against Trump.

As ICE arrests fall short of quotas, Trump seeks to shakeup leadership

Meanwhile, Trump’s immigration crackdown operation has shown signs of internal tension, with the administration planning to rearrange ICE leadership as the agency still struggles to meet the lofty arrest quota of 3,000 per day. If the daily goal were met, arrests would surpass one million per year.

With the high quota set by top Trump advisor Stephen Miller, as of late September, the most recent period with available data amid the government shutdown, ICE averaged 1,178 arrests per day. The Department of Homeland Security is sending Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection officials to several ICE field offices that the Trump administration considers underperforming, as part of a larger push to increase arrest numbers nationwide.

NBC reports that the Trump administration plans to replace at least a dozen ICE field office directors, a significant shake-up, considering there are only 25 field offices nationwide.

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