A prominent Democratic candidate for a largely suburban Congressional seat now faces a criminal charge stemming from protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview.

Kat Abughazaleh “forcibly impeded, intimidated, and interfered with an officer of the United States,” on Sept. 26, according to an indictment handed up last week in federal court.

Abughazaleh, 26, of Chicago , is seeking the 9th District congressional seat long held by the retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Stretching from Chicago’s North Shore through parts of the Northwest suburbs and out to Cary , the 9th District includes portions of Cook , Lake and McHenry counties.

In a statement following the unsealing of the indictment Wednesday, Abughazaleh called the charges a “politic

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