Recently a video went viral of a young blond woman being thrown to the ground by jackbooted government thugs outside the Broadview ICE Detention Facility in Illinois. That young woman was Democratic congressional candidate, Kat Abughazaleh and she has been on the front lines of ICE’s war on Chicago. Kat has been at the Broadview facility every day to bear witness to and raise her voice against ICE’s cruelty and violations of law. In fact, that wasn’t even the first time that ICE had assaulted her, just the first time caught on camera.

Kat joins us to talk about how Chicago is peacefully fighting back, her unorthodox campaign organized around mutual aid and livestreams, and how her time studying online right wing extremists prepared her for this moment. I really hope you’ll take the time to hear her testimony and imagine how transformational it would be to have political leaders with her courage and principle in charge. If you are moved to support her campaign her website is here. Watch the full interview below:

As a former Media Matters journalist, Kat has spent her time studying the darkest corners of the internet so nothing about what we are witnessing has surprised her. But she remains hopeful that the courage and collective resolve she has witnessed from ordinary people in Chicago can be transformed into a national movement to fight fascism. We are in dire need of fearless fighters like her in political leadership.