Acts of Resistance: A Discussion with Kat Abughazaleh
We talk about ICE in Chicago, the true nature of bravery, Trump's war on ANTIFA, the enduring awfulness of Fox News, and her innovative and inspiring campaign for U.S. Congress in IL-09.
When I first met Kat Abughazaleh, interviewing her for my PREVAIL podcast back in March of 2023, she was covering Fox News for Media Matters. Her job was to watch Tucker Carlson, Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, and the rest of those loud, obnoxious, horrible people, night in and night out, and report on what they were up to. (When I go to hell, right after they hand me the styrofoam cup of lukewarm Hazelnut coffee, I will be whisked into a small room and forced to do that for all eternity.)
In the intervening two and a half years, Abughazaleh got laid off—a casualty of the lawfare waged by Elon Musk; she made engaging and funny social media clips of her insights on rightwing media, with great success; she moved to Chicago; she adopted a cat; and she decided to run for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ ninth district.
Chicago has become a major front in the ICE war on blue cities, and as such, is a stronghold for the antifascist—dare we say “ANTIFA?”—resistance. Abughazaleh has been front and center in this resistance, while running one of the most inspiring, innovative, community-oriented campaigns in recent memory.
“A big part of the campaign has been reaching voters while also materially improving their lives,” she told me, when I sat down with her yesterday afternoon. “For example, we did a backpack drive the other week. It was the first day before school. So the kids that came did not have backpacks otherwise. And they had school supplies in them. We had haircuts from an iconic barber shop down the street that decided to stay open on a Sunday. We had catering from two local restaurants. We gave out 500 backpacks, 300 haircuts and 500 meals….It was awesome. And we registered their parents to vote. So it wasn’t just this do-good, like, charity thing, which is how some people try to describe this. What I am trying to show is that you can help people get invested in democracy by showing them that democracy can include them as well.”
This is working. Her message is resonating. People are literally investing in democracy. Abughazaleh has raised over a million dollars so far, mostly through small donations. She out-raised all of her opponents last quarter, garnering more in-district financial supporters than all of them put together.
Here are some of the other takeaways from our discussion:
Trump’s Focus on Chicago
I asked about Trump’s propaganda campaign to present blue cities, and Chicago in particular, as violent, dangerous “killing fields.” Abughazaleh said:
This is a familiar rightwing dog whistle. They love to hate Chicago, specifically because it’s one of the diverse and most Black cities in the US. And now, especially with its large Latino population, it is being targeted by ICE.
I am very proud of our leaders here in Illinois for saying “Absolutely the fuck not!” to Trump. That’s what we need more of. We need less capitulation. We actually need zero capitulation and far more standing up. Because when you call a fascist’s bluff, they usually fold—because they’re not that strong.
ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz”
That’s the football-inspired name of the big push by Trump’s secret state police to terrorize Chicago. Abughazaleh provided a jarring report on what’s happening on the ground:
Yeah, people are terrified. Documented and undocumented immigrants are terrified. Many are not leaving their homes. Many are making sure to carry their papers with them. One of my friends has her kid in daycare, and the daycare sent out an email saying, “This is what we’ll do if there’s an ICE raid.” And so all the kids have their papers with them, which is so unbelievably fucked.
For the last few weeks, there have been protests at the Broadview Processing Facility, which is the headquarters of ICE’s Chicago operations. And it’s been so for years. There have been weekly vigils every Friday at this processing facility. Obviously those have ramped up [into] protests, as ICE activity has ramped up.
I went for a vigil in July, and it was very tame. It was like a bunch of old Jewish ladies and college students and people that are like, “Hey, don’t kidnap our neighbors.” The ICE officers were terrified. They called an Uber Eats driver to bring them dinner and then made the driver come inside because we were obviously terrifying—so scary.
Then two weeks ago, two Fridays ago, I went as a part of a protest because some protesters had been arrested the week before. We managed to actually get an ICE vehicle to have to turn around because of the sheer numbers, but they had changed the deportation time from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m. to get around these protesters.
So last week, I went at about 5.30 and sat on public property on streets owned by the city of Broadview. ICE tried to intimidate us. They flashed their vans at us. They tried to get us to move. We did not. I watched as people were marched to these vans. They were in the same clothes they were detained in. This is a processing facility—part of the problem with this facility is that it’s a processing facility, not a detention facility. So people aren’t supposed to be kept there for more than 12 hours at a time. They’re not given beds. They’re not given hot meals. They’re not given hygienic products. People in the same clothes they were detained in have been in there for God knows how long.
And this isn’t just men—which, obviously, it’s not okay to do this to anyone—but we’ve heard about grandmothers and pregnant women sleeping on the concrete here. So we watched as they go in, and the Broadview police stood there as ICE agents came out of the gates and forcibly removed us. I am 105, maybe 110 pounds. It took three guys to pick me up, and they threw me on the ground. The police just stood there and watched. And then they took our neighbors, and more people joined our protest.
Around 10 a.m., this weird AI voice came on saying that they could use “lethal or chemical munitions” against us—and then they changed it to be “chemical or less lethal munitions.” But several times, two dozen men in full Spirit Halloween, Call of Duty costume armor came out to try to intimidate us with guns and gas masks and tear gas and pepper balls.
I watched as a van was coming in that had people who had been detained—kidnapped. They were slamming on the doors to get out. Greg, you could see the doors moving. You could hear it. It was the most harrowing thing I’ve ever seen in my goddamn life.
And the police just watched. We’re like, “There’s a crime right there! There’s a crime!” And they protected ICE, and they protected the processing facility, as these officers shoved us back. One of them copped a feel—which is the lowest priority of that day, but I think it’s worth noting because these guys suck.
She added that ICE agents are
being given crazy advances to become bounty hunters, to become secret police in our own country. And I think every single one of these men should be a pariah. I mean, they’re all wearing masks. None of these guys had identification.
If anyone in any other public situation did what one of those guys did to me, it would be assault. Not even just sexual assault—like assault, throwing me on the ground until my knees bled. Like, that’s assault.
But it didn’t matter. There’s no way that I can know who it is. It’s just some guy in a mask with sunglasses and a cap at 5 a.m., before the sun’s come up.
The purpose of this is to intimate—the secret state police was invented by Ivan the Terrible, after all, and is the main reason he’s known as Ivan the Terrible—but Abughazaleh refuses to be intimidated.
“I’m going back tomorrow,” she said yesterday, “so wish me luck.”
Tomorrow is today, and I hope for her safety. I also hope the local police will protect the people who actually need protection and not the handsy, heat-packing masked dudes with the goggles and the bullet-proof vests—but I’m not holding my breath.
How to be Brave
I commended her bravery in standing up to these ICE creeps. Abughazaleh said:
That’s the thing I want to stress: All of us were scared…This isn’t to be like, “We’re so brave,” because we’re not…We are doing what we can with what we have.
Everyone’s acts of resistance look different, but a lot of people think they can’t resist because they’re like, “I’m not brave.” Brave isn’t not feeling scared. Being brave means doing something even when you’re scared. And so whenever you’re thinking, “I can’t do that because I’m just too scared,” you are the bravest person in the world if you do it anyways.
Thanks to Kat for stopping by to talk to me, and for standing up for the vulnerable members of her community. Would that more people in Congress were willing to do the same.
Watch the full conversation:
P.S.
If you’re wondering how to pronounce her name, just remember that “I talk to Kat Abughazaleh now” is one line of perfect iambic pentameter.
THE FIVE 8
Join me and Stephanie “LB” Koff tonight at 8pm ET. We’re talking about kings, and also Greenland.
Bravery, acting when scared. Kat certainly exemplifies this. Cowardice, acting like everyday Trump, the world's biggest coward, he and every member of his administration, especially the assholes inflicting illegal harm while carrying no id, hiding behind masks and sunglasses. No better than Russia's little green men.
TGIF🎉🎉🎉Make your plans for Oct 18 marches and rallies! Go to Indivisible.org to find a local event. (Also, cut ESPN out of your cable package if you want to impact Disney’s revenue.)