On September 19, 2025, a protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, erupted into a national flashpoint after a dramatic confrontation between ICE agents and demonstrators—including a congressional candidate—was broadcast and then lauded on primetime cable news. The incident quickly spiraled into a heated debate about political violence, media responsibility, and the rights of both protesters and law enforcement, with figures on both sides of the political spectrum weighing in.
At the center of the controversy is Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old former journalist and progressive congressional candidate for Illinois’s 9th district. According to Fox News and The Daily Beast, Abughazaleh was among a group of demonstrators attempting to block a van following the detention of a fellow protester by ICE agents. The protest, which drew dozens of activists, was one of several recent actions targeting ICE facilities in the Chicago area, reflecting growing tensions over immigration enforcement tactics.
Footage aired on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle” showed a masked ICE agent grabbing Abughazaleh and hurling her to the pavement as she and others tried to impede the van’s movement. The video, which quickly spread across social media, captured a chaotic scene: protesters shouting, agents pushing through the crowd, and Abughazaleh landing hard on the ground. Moments later, an ICE agent reportedly told her, “Your First Amendment rights are on the sidewalk.”
Abughazaleh, who previously worked for Media Matters and is the partner of Onion head Ben Collins, wasted no time in sharing her account. On the morning of September 19, she tweeted video of the incident, writing, “This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights.” She later retweeted journalist Matthew Weadle, who confirmed she had suffered bruises and minor injuries from the altercation. According to The Daily Beast, Abughazaleh was shaken but undeterred, continuing to speak out about the clash and its implications for civil liberties.
The protest was not without further incident. Daniel Biss, a fellow Democrat and the frontrunner in the district’s primary race, was also present and reportedly hit by tear gas during the same demonstration. The June 2025 poll from Abughazaleh’s campaign showed her trailing Biss, with only 36% of voters recognizing her name at the time—a figure likely to change in the wake of the highly publicized confrontation.
What truly set the incident ablaze in the national conversation, however, was the response from Fox News host Laura Ingraham. On her show, Ingraham offered blunt praise for the ICE agent’s actions, declaring, “Good work.” She described the protesters as “unhinged agitators” and dismissed their efforts as the work of those who “don’t have actual jobs, but that is their job.” As the footage played, Ingraham’s endorsement was unmistakable. According to Fox News, she stated, “A similar situation in Chicago today, where unhinged agitators worked to form a blockade—in front of an ICE facility, including a Democrat congressional candidate who was thrown to the ground by an ICE agent. Good work.”
Ingraham’s comments did not occur in a vacuum. As The Daily Beast and other outlets noted, her praise came at a time when Republican leaders—including Attorney General Pam Bondi—were publicly demanding harsh punishment for those who promote or celebrate political violence. Just days earlier, Bondi tweeted, “For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.” The juxtaposition of Bondi’s warning with Ingraham’s on-air approval of forceful action against a Democratic candidate was not lost on critics, who accused Fox News of hypocrisy and selective outrage.
Other conservative voices quickly joined the fray. Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer with close ties to the Trump administration, tweeted, “I love watching communists get body slammed by ICE.” This sentiment echoed through segments of conservative social media, with some framing the incident as a justified response to what they saw as lawless protest tactics.
The episode also unfolded against a backdrop of escalating tensions surrounding media coverage and political speech. Earlier that same week, ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he made controversial remarks about the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk by Tyler Robinson. FCC chairman Brendan Carr had threatened to revoke ABC’s license, arguing Kimmel’s comments were misleading and not in the “public interest.” The swift disciplinary action against Kimmel only heightened scrutiny on Fox News, where hosts like Brian Kilmeade and Laura Ingraham have faced criticism for inflammatory rhetoric but rarely face consequences.
For Abughazaleh, the incident has thrust her candidacy into the spotlight. While previously struggling with name recognition, she now finds herself at the center of a debate over the role of protest, the limits of free speech, and the responsibilities of law enforcement. Her campaign has seized on the moment, framing her actions as a courageous stand against what she describes as government overreach and the suppression of dissent.
Yet the episode has also galvanized her opponents, who argue that law enforcement officers must be empowered to maintain order in the face of escalating and sometimes disruptive protests. Supporters of ICE and its agents point to the need for clear boundaries and the enforcement of federal law, especially at facilities that have become frequent targets for demonstrations.
The broader political context cannot be ignored. The 2024 and 2025 election cycles have been marked by fierce debates over immigration, policing, and the boundaries of acceptable political conduct. The events in Broadview, amplified by national media coverage, have become a microcosm of these larger battles, with both sides accusing the other of inciting violence and undermining democratic norms.
As the dust settles, questions remain about the consequences for all involved. Will Abughazaleh’s newfound visibility translate into greater support at the polls? Will Fox News face renewed calls for accountability over its coverage of political violence? And how will law enforcement agencies balance the demands of security with the rights of protesters in an increasingly polarized climate?
For now, the events of September 19 serve as a stark reminder of the volatility of American politics in 2025—and the ways in which a single moment, captured on camera and debated on air, can spark a national reckoning over who gets to speak, who gets to protest, and who decides what counts as “good work.”
