Watch: ICE smacks down Illinois Dem candidate Kat Abughazaleh; ‘This is what it looks like…’

Democratic Congressional candidate Kate Abughazaleh gets bodied by ICE officers in Illinois.

Democratic Congressional candidate, Kat Abughazaleh, 26, was tossed to the ground by an ICE agent at a protest outside an Illinois ICE center. The video went viral as Abughazaleh took to social media and said ICE smacking her down in front of the camera was nothing compared to what they are doing to immigrant communities. “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. I’ve been fighting the right as a journalist and now I’m running for Congress to do the same in DC,” Abughazaleh posted. “This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights,” she wrote.”Right-wingers are calling for my arrest. You know why? Because they know I’m the only candidate in my race who will actually stand up to ICE and Trump. And they’re right,” she added. “We have no weapons, we have signs and chants and songs,” Abughazaleh said at the scene, according to CBS News. “They are treating us like it’s a war zone.”Abughazaleh was thrown to the ground by an ICE agent in “fully camouflaged uniform,” the Sun-Times reported, adding that one of the outlet’s videographer’s was hit by a chemical irritant amid the chaos. At least two protesters were arrested and taken inside the facility.

Who is Kat Abughazaleh?

Kat Abughazaleh is a media researcher and journalist best known for her work with Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog organization that monitors and analyzes conservative media outlets in the United States. She has built a strong reputation online for her sharp, often humorous critiques of right-wing television, particularly Fox News and figures like Tucker Carlson.In March 2025, Kat Abughazaleh publicly declared she was running in the Democratic primary for Illinois’s 9th Congressional District.This is a seat held for many years by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who has been in office since 1999. Her reasons for running include frustration with what she sees as Democratic inaction: she has criticized the party for being too focused on decorum, or “structure,” rather than delivering results or pushing back convincingly against conservative and MAGA-aligned political agendas.