'Broadview Six' trial vacated over grand jury developments revealed in sealed hearing

CHICAGO (WLS) -- U.S. District Judge April Perry announced in court Thursday the "Broadview Six" trial scheduled to begin Tuesday has been vacated because of grand jury developments revealed in a sealed hearing with prosecutors and defense attorneys. Prosecutors have been ordered to hand over the unredacted grand jury transcripts to defense attorneys by 3 p.m.

Judge Perry ordered prosecutors to court Thursday to explain the redactions they made to portions of the grand jury transcripts in the "Broadview Six" case. The hearing was sealed and not open to the press or public.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

The original trial date has been vacated as requested by the defense. They are also asking for the unsealing of Thursday morning's hearing. Court resumed at 1 p.m. on that issue.

Before the sealed hearing, she heard arguments from press attorneys asking for the unredacted grand jury transcripts to be released to the public. Normally, these transcripts are not released, but press attorneys argued in a time where the public's trust in government is low, it is important to be transparent. Judge Perry denied their request, saying releasing the transcripts just days before the trial was set to begin would make it challenging to seat an unbiased jury. She said it is possible the transcripts could be released to the public in the future.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The grand jury indicted the original six defendants on a count of felony conspiracy for their involvement in a late September protest outside a federal immigration facility in Chicago's near-west suburb of Broadview for allegedly conspiring to "interrupt, hinder, and impede" a federal immigration agent from the "discharge of his official duties." They were also each charged with individual misdemeanor counts, which are not charged by a grand jury.

But after dropping all charges against two of the defendants in March, prosecutors made another surprise announcement last month, telling U.S. District Judge April Perry that they'd decided to drop the conspiracy charge. While defense attorneys framed it as a win for their clients, they also suggested the feds' unexpected move was a strategic way to avoid having to hand over unredacted grand jury transcripts. That set off a week of dueling accusations between defense lawyers and prosecutors over the speed at which the conspiracy charge was dropped and what went on in the grand jury room.

The case stems from a Sept. 26, 2025, demonstration outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, which at the time was the epicenter of protests against the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz."

Social media video of the protest posted by Abughazaleh, an influencer-turned-congressional candidate, captured the moment she and dozens of others surrounded an ICE vehicle that drove through the crowd, banging on its windows. Others charged include Abughazaleh's deputy campaign manager, Andre Martin, and Chicago 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbitt.

The vehicle's windshield wipers were damaged and someone scratched "PIG" into its side. Though the government previously has acknowledged it isn't alleging any of the defendants perpetrated those specific acts of vandalism, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan on Monday argued with Perry that he would try to prove that they participated in what he called a "joint venture," which he said was "obvious" from video of the incident.

"Oh, I disagree," the judge said, though she did rule to allow prosecutors to use protester chants as evidence in trial.

In October the group was charged with the overarching conspiracy count in addition to individual charges of misdemeanor simple assault of a federal officer, which does not require physical contact.

It's rare for a federal trial to proceed on only misdemeanor charges, but Perry noted she would tell the group of prospective jurors - all 90 of them - the trial could take up to two weeks.

Also on Monday, the judge made rulings on minor aspects of the trial. But even those weren't conflict-free. Defense attorneys, for example, wanted to ban prosecutors from using the word "mob" to describe the crowd of protesters. Molly Armour, a lawyer for Abughazaleh, complained that the term "implies some level of criminality."

Incredulous, Perry shot back that the government had "actually charged your clients with criminality" so it shouldn't necessarily be a surprise that prosecutors would want to be free to imply such a thing to the jury.

"And if it's not proved, it's not proved and they look foolish," the judge said, chiding the lawyers for asking to bar things from trial that she deemed "worth arguing about before the jury."

"Same with calling 'Agent A' a 'victim,'" Perry said. "If they argue he's a victim, you'll be able to share your thoughts on his lack of victimhood."

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.