On her second attempt to secure an indictment against a group of protesters who would come to be known as the “Broadview Six,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg kicked out a grand juror who described the case as a “crock of shit,” according to grand jury transcripts released on Tuesday.
Prosecutors pursued the case anyway, accusing the group — which included Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh — of blocking an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle outside the Broadview detention center during an immigration crackdown in Chicago in late September of last year. On the third attempt, prosecutors secured felony conspiracy charges against all six defendants as well as misdemeanor counts of impeding a federal agent.
The case quickly fell apart: Earlier this year, prosecutors dismissed two of the defendants and dropped all felony charges, leaving only the misdemeanors. The case collapsed entirely last month, after a federal judge criticized prosecutors for improperly trying to influence grand jurors and removing those who disagreed with their case.
“I have read hundreds, if not thousands, of grand jury transcripts involving prosecutors who are the most junior of prosecutors to several U.S. attorneys who appeared before the grand jury,” U.S. District Judge April Perry said last month after reviewing the transcripts. “I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”
Those transcripts, released to the public on Tuesday, show the extreme lengths to which federal prosecutors went to indict the Broadview Six, even after grand jurors repeatedly expressed skepticism about the case.
After failing to obtain indictments on their first try, prosecutors came back a week later, prompting a grand juror to ask if they had “unlimited tries.”
“Like you keep coming back as many times as you want?” the grand juror asked.
“Well, I don’t think we have to worry about that. I think we’re going to be just fine,” Mecklenburg responded.
“I think the saying is the second time is the charm,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skiba added.
“I hope you don’t have your mind made up already that I’m going to need more tries,” Mecklenburg said.
Asked by a grand juror if prosecutors were “actually presenting any new facts or just a different viewpoint on your side,” Mecklenburg said she was “feeling the skepticism already.”
“Are you going to be able to listen with an open mind? Tell me the truth,” the prosecutor said.
“I — no,” the grand juror responded.
“OK. Then you have to go,” Mecklenburg said.
“I heard this case like last week and I thought it was a crock of shit then and I still think it is,” the grand juror said, before being excused.
The second time, it turned out, was not the charm for the government. Even with the removal of the critical grand juror, the panel did not return an indictment.
So prosecutors came back the following week. This time, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros made an unusual statement, urging anyone who “cannot set aside their personal feelings” on immigration cases to raise their hands, according to a report summarizing his remarks. During that third session, Mecklenburg acknowledged improperly speaking to two grand jurors outside of official proceedings.
Eventually, grand jurors returned a true bill and charged all six defendants.
The Broadview Six case is part of a pattern by the Trump Department of Justice of pursuing aggressive felony charges against people who oppose its mass deportation and detention agenda. Although jurors have repeatedly declined to convict when these cases go to trial, the experience of being prosecuted causes tremendous physical, emotional and financial stress. Collectively, the members of the Broadview Six owe more than $1 million in legal fees, Abughazaleh told the Guardian.
“That’s not a happy ending, it’s just an ending,” she said. “It’s not justice, but it is a win.”