With less than three months before Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw’s federal protest trial, the federal prosecution is narrowing the scope of its conspiracy allegations.
Following a recent defense counsel motion questioning the evidence the government had to support the charges, and the first amendment implications of the case, U.S. Judge April Perry ordered that prosecutors meet with the defense to define what part of the federal conspiracy statute they intend to prosecute the co-defendants on, according to court records. Prosecutors said they’d drop the part of the indictment that alleged that Straw and the others had plans to injure a federal officer.
Earlier this month, Perry set Monday, May 26 as the trial start date in the federal conspiracy case that emerged from Straw and his five co-defendants participation in a protest at the Broadview ICE Detention Facility last fall. The jury trial in the case is expected to last at least a week, attorneys said in court last month.
Straw is one of several progressive political figures indicted on felony conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer charged in connection with a confrontation between anti-ICE protestors and a vehicle driven by a federal law enforcement agent during an early morning protest outside the Broadview ICE Detention Facility last September, according to U.S. Northern District of Illinois court documents. Straw’s co-defendants in the case are 9th District U.S. Congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, Chicago alderman staffer Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th ward Democratic committeeman Michael Rabbit, musician Joselyn Walsh and Andre Martin, who works on Abughazaleh’s campaign staff.
The indictment alleged that Straw and his co-defendants were among a crowd of protestors who blocked, pushed against and banged on a vehicle being driven by a federal agent into ICE’s Broadview Detention Facility the morning of Sept. 26. The prosecution said a side mirror and a windshield wiper on the agent’s vehicle was damaged in the incident and the car was vandalized, but none of the indicted individuals are alleged to have directly caused the damage themselves.
On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan reportedly told the judge his team plans to remove language in the indictment alleging the six conspired to injure an agent driving the van into the facility. Prosecutors also acknowledged during the hearing that the timeframe of the alleged conspiracy is limited to Sept. 26, that it was “spontaneous” with no evidence of a prior agreement between the co-defendants, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The hearing came two weeks after lead prosecutor Sheri Mecklenburg, withdrew from the case on Feb. 13, according to court records. The next hearing in the case is set for March 31.
This week, defense counsel had filed a motion asking the judge to compel prosecutors to define what elements of the conspiracy charge they intended to prosecute on, layout a complete timeframe for the alleged conspiracy and name “unindicted coconspirators” through a bill of particulars. The attorneys included a video-still appearing to show Straw being pushed into the van from behind to support their claim.
“For example, as depicted in the image from a video produced by the government in discovery, it is clear Defendant Brian Straw (in the red circle) is being pushed by an unknown individual from his backside,” attorneys wrote. “Mr. Straw needs to understand the government’s alleged acts it claims he undertook as part of this conspiracy. Surely even the government would acknowledge that an individual cannot be literally pushed into joining a conspiracy. The basic information of when the conspiracy began and the identity of known unindicted coconspirators is necessary and essential for Defendants to formulate their defenses and avoid the risk of double jeopardy given the potential for multiple alleged conspiracies based on the particular charge.”
Judge Perry did not grant the attorney’s motion for a bill of particulars.
Straw’s attorney Chris Parente told reporters after a hearing in January that the prosecution is a waste of the Justice Department’s time and that the government is trying to invent a criminal conspiracy case out of people simply taking part in the same protest without prior coordination.
“That is an attempt by this administration, and potentially this U.S. Attorney’s office, to silence legitimate peaceful protest,” said Parente, who is an Oak Park resident. “The government will acknowledge that none of the six people charged did any of the damage they’re claiming. There’s no allegation against these six, it was other people at the protest.”
The so-called “Broadview Six” are among 32 known defendants to have been charged with nonimmigration crimes tied to Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago’s federal court. Many of those cases fell apart before reaching trial and the lone case which has reached a jury trial ended with an acquittal, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
