Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw will go to trial on federal conspiracy charges in May, but now as one of four defendants, rather than the so-called “Broadview Six.”
Federal prosecutors filed a motion Thursday afternoon dropping charges against two of Straw’s five co-defendants in the federal felony conspiracy case stemming from alleged illegal actions at a protest at the Broadview ICE detention facility last September. The morning after, counsel for Straw and the remaining defendants filed a motion seeking to compel prosecutors to provide discovery materials that could show “improper influence” on the prosecution from federal officials, arguing that the defendants were targeted for their public criticism of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The government dropped the conspiracy charges against Catherine “Cat” Sharp, a Chicago aldermanic staffer who dropped her bid for the Cook County board citing the stress of the prosecution, and Joselyn Walsh, a local musician who was the only defendant in the case that doesn’t have a job in local progressive politics. On Friday morning, defense counsel filed a motion asking Judge Perry to compel the prosecutors to provide discovery materials to support the defense’s motion to have the case thrown out on first amendment and selective prosecution grounds. In addition to asking for discovery related to agent training, the defense is asking for “ecords and communications relating to related to any improper influence exerted upon the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois” that could have contributed to the defendants being charged.
“The public record is replete with public admissions regarding the weaponization of the Department of Justice and federal courts to retaliate against perceived political enemies and those that oppose its agendas, as reflected in federal court dockets, from administration officials’ own mouths,” attorney’s wrote in the motion. “Since Watergate, there had been a strong norm that the White House would not and did not direct specific targets, investigations or criminal cases. There is prima facie evidence that the Trump White House has repeatedly crossed that line and that it did so in this case in going after its ‘enemies.’”
“The one commonality among these four defendants is that via social media platforms and public statements they were all outspoken critics of the Trump Administration. They all specifically vocalized their criticism of Operation Midway Blitz and the violence perpetrated by federal agents at the Broadview Facility and elsewhere. Perhaps most salient, all four defendants who remain charged in this case are Democrats who either hold public office, is a candidate for public office, or works for the Democratic Congressional campaign.”
The defense’s motion included an image of a large banner recently hung over the DOJ headquarters in Washington D.C. that features Trump’s face and the phrase “Make America Safe Again,” according to court records.
The indictment alleged that the six 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.
Prosecutors recently agreed to drop a part of the indictment that alleged that Straw and the others had plans to injure a federal officer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan wrote in Thursday’s motion dropping charges against Sharp and Walsh that, “as the United States attorney’s office does in every case, the government has continued to evaluate new facts, evidence, and information to ensure that the interests of justice are served.
“Accordingly, the United States hereby moves to dismiss with prejudice the indictment against Catherine Sharp and Joselyn Walsh, in the interests of justice,” he wrote.
These moves come after the original lead prosecutor in the case, Sheri Mecklenburg, withdrew from the prosecution on Feb. 13, according to court records. The next hearing in the case is set for March 31.
It also follows targeted challenges by defense counsel over recent months about validity of the prosecution’s conspiracy allegation and evidence, as prosecutors have acknowledged they do not have evidence that the codefendants coordinated prior to the protest or that they knew each other prior to the day. The prosecution is alleging that they broke the law by way of a “spontaneous conspiracy.”
Still charged are Straw, 9th District U.S. Congressional hopeful Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, 45th ward Democratic committeeman Michael Rabbit and Andre Martin, who works on Abughazaleh’s campaign staff. The trial is set for Tuesday, May 26 before U.S. Judge April Perry.
Straw’s attorney Chris Parente commented on Sharp and Walsh being dropped from the case Thursday evening, saying that the move puts the entire case into further doubt.
“By continuing this baseless prosecution, the government is heading down a dangerous path towards upending the First Amendment and severely limiting the constitutionally protected freedoms of expression and assembly,” Parente said in a statement provided to Wednesday Journal. “If after six months of investigation, the government cannot be sure who is an actual co-conspirator of this alleged mythical ‘spontaneous conspiracy,’ how can they expect to ultimately convince a jury of these ridiculous charges?”
“I am gravely concerned by what appears to be an intensification of the government’s desire to selectively prosecute public officials and political figures in this case. The remaining co-defendants all have publicly knowngovernment and political positions. My client did nothing wrong. And while I am confident we will prevail in court, we all should be troubled by the potential chilling effect this prosecution has on public servants nationwide.”
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.