Kat Abughazaleh, a former journalist and Democratic congressional candidate, was thrown to the ground by an ICE agent during a protest in Chicago on Friday, with video of the incident going viral.
The 26-year-old running for Congress in Illinois’s 9th District in 2026 posted videos of the incident on X, writing, “This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights.”
In the first video, an armed agent grabs Abughazaleh around the chest and throws her onto the road, landing on her backside.
The other shows Abughazaleh seated on the street alongside other protestors wearing face masks and holding signs.
A group of ICE agents walks up to the group, and one picks up Abughazaleh, dragging her further back. She gets up to be shoved by other agents as multiple bystanders record the interaction.
“What ICE just did to me was a violent abuse of power — and it’s still nothing compared to what they’re doing to immigrant communities,” Abughazaleh added in another post. “I’ve been fighting the right as a journalist and now I’m running for Congress to do the same in DC.
“I hope you’ll join me in this fight,” she said, providing a link to her campaign website.
Some right-wingers appeared gleeful at the assault.
“I love watching communists get body slammed by ICE,” MAGA commentator Laura Loomer posted. “Communist and Palestinian. Pick a struggle.”
Abughazaleh first made a name for herself at Media Matters for America, where she drew attention for her sharp critiques of Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Her work has also appeared in outlets like Mother Jones and The New Republic.
"First off they shot pepper balls to the ground, and then said, 'Your First Amendment rights are on the sidewalk,'" Abughazaleh told Newsweek. "And then when we tried to get in the way of the van, they picked us up or dragged us away, for some people, shoved people. I was picked up and thrown."
"No one was violent. No one did anything that could possibly warrant being detained by federal officers. But they didn't care,"
