'Broadview Six' case dropped after closed-door hearing, just days before trial

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NPR

'Broadview Six' case dropped after closed-door hearing, just days before trial

Chicago Sun-Times By Jon Seidel
Published May 21, 2026 at 2:35 PM CDT


Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
The remaining four members of the so-called "Broadview Six": Brian Straw (from left), Michael Rabbitt, Kat Abughazaleh and Andre Martin.

Chicago's top federal prosecutor announced Thursday he was dropping charges against the remaining members of the "Broadview Six" in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury by his assistants -- but which he insisted he knew nothing about until recently.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros told U.S. District Judge April Perry he was "completely unaware" of the misconduct until late last month, when prosecutors dropped the felony conspiracy indictment against the four remaining defendants in the case. Boutros also told Perry that "no one acted with the intent to mislead your honor."

Then, despite dropping the case with prejudice -- meaning it can't be re-filed -- Boutros went on to defend what is now the most controversial prosecution of his 14-month tenure.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.nprillinois.org/chicago-il/2026-05-21/broadview-six-case-dropped-after-closed-door-hearing-just-days-before-trial

---

Earlier this morning:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143668085
Judge calls for closed-door hearing days before 'Broadview 6' trial set to begin

******
Popehat Likes The Triangles
‪@kenwhite.bsky.social‬

Follow
I'm proud of the work I did as an AUSA, and I say this with complete sincerity: if you're an AUSA, and a decent person, who cares about your oath, get out. Get out now without destroying your reputation. A DoJ run to Trumpist specifications is corrupt and incompetent. The stink will stick on you.

‪Chicago Connected‬
‪@chicagoconnected.bsky.social‬
· 4h
'Broadview Six' trial is off for now, following closed-door hearing about grand jury transcripts

'Broadview Six' trial is off for now, following closed-door hearing about grand jury transcripts
The case is one of the most highly publicized prosecutions to result from last fall's Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign. That's because it began as a conspiracy case against six people who...
chicago.suntimes.com
1:22 PM · May 21, 2026
******

I’m proud of the work I did as an AUSA, and I say this with complete sincerity: if you’re an AUSA, and a decent person, who cares about your oath, get out. Get out now without destroying your reputation. A DoJ run to Trumpist specifications is corrupt and incompetent. The stink will stick on you.

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T17:22:34.707Z

******
Chicago Connected
‪@chicagoconnected.bsky.social‬

Follow
'Broadview Six' trial is off for now, following closed-door hearing about grand jury transcripts

'Broadview Six' trial is off for now, following closed-door hearing about grand jury transcripts
The case is one of the most highly publicized prosecutions to result from last fall's Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign. That's because it began as a conspiracy case against six people who...
chicago.suntimes.com
1:16 PM · May 21, 2026
******

'Broadview Six' trial is off for now, following closed-door hearing about grand jury transcripts

— Chicago Connected (@chicagoconnected.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T17:16:00.740Z

Reposted by Popehat Likes The Triangles
https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social

******
Josh Marshall
‪@joshtpm.bsky.social‬

So if I’m understanding it the outlines of the prosecutorial misconduct in the Broadview Six case is this. They tried three times to get an indictment. After they failed the second time they simply booted the grand jurors who didn’t think the conduct was a crime. Then they told the remaining …
5:03 PM · May 21, 2026
******

So if I’m understanding it the outlines of the prosecutorial misconduct in the Broadview Six case is this. They tried three times to get an indictment. After they failed the second time they simply booted the grand jurors who didn’t think the conduct was a crime. Then they told the remaining …

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T21:03:00.603Z

[ZDU]

1. Criminal intimidation?

Anyone? Anyone?

[AZProgressive]

2. K&R

Sorry for the duplicate

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Ahhhh, I don't mind. The more the merrier, say I.

And good evening.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. "Kinda defeats the point of having a grand jury if you can just boot everyone who didn't want to indict."

Reposted by Popehat Likes The Triangles
https://bsky.app/profile/kenwhite.bsky.social

Julian Sanchez
‪@normative.bsky.social‬

Kinda defeats the point of having a grand jury if you can just boot everyone who didn’t want to indict, keep everyone who did, and keep trying until you get the result you want.

‪Beware the Ides of Ham‬
‪@literalham.bsky.social‬
· 3h

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Parente, who was a federal prosecutor for 15 years, said he had never heard of anything as bad as the conduct in the Broadview Six grand jury sessions. He said that while he has not yet been able to review the unredacted transcripts, Judge April Perry gave a summary in court of her impressions. She said she had reviewed thousands of pages of grand jury transcripts in her career and had never seen anything worse than what she saw in these pages.

Parente said during the grand jury sessions, prosecutors used vouching, which he called a "101 no-no for any prosecutor," kicked out grand jury members who disagreed with them, did not disclose that a No True Bill – which indicates no indictment – had been returned to either the defense or the public. Parente also said that after receiving the No True Bill from one grand jury, they re-presented their case after excluding grand jurors who disagreed with them. The grand jury then returned a True Bill to indict the "Broadview Six."
ALT
5:12 PM · May 21, 2026

Kinda defeats the point of having a grand jury if you can just boot everyone who didn’t want to indict, keep everyone who did, and keep trying until you get the result you want.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T21:12:23.493Z

Beware the Ides of Ham
‪@literalham.bsky.social‬

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Parente, who was a federal prosecutor for 15 years, said he had never heard of anything as bad as the conduct in the Broadview Six grand jury sessions. He said that while he has not yet been able to review the unredacted transcripts, Judge April Perry gave a summary in court of her impressions. She said she had reviewed thousands of pages of grand jury transcripts in her career and had never seen anything worse than what she saw in these pages.

Parente said during the grand jury sessions, prosecutors used vouching, which he called a "101 no-no for any prosecutor," kicked out grand jury members who disagreed with them, did not disclose that a No True Bill – which indicates no indictment – had been returned to either the defense or the public. Parente also said that after receiving the No True Bill from one grand jury, they re-presented their case after excluding grand jurors who disagreed with them. The grand jury then returned a True Bill to indict the "Broadview Six."
ALT

‪CBS News Chicago‬
‪@cbschicago.bsky.social‬
· 4h

All remaining charges against the "Broadview Six" defendants have been dismissed by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros Thursday afternoon.

All charges dismissed against "Broadview Six," defense says grand jury transcript revealed "gross misconduct"
www.cbsnews.com
4:31 PM · May 21, 2026

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

— Literal Ham (@literalham.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T20:31:40.584Z

CBS News Chicago
‪@cbschicago.bsky.social‬

All remaining charges against the "Broadview Six" defendants have been dismissed by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros Thursday afternoon.

All charges dismissed against "Broadview Six," defense says grand jury transcript revealed "gross misconduct"
www.cbsnews.com
4:04 PM · May 21, 2026

All remaining charges against the "Broadview Six" defendants have been dismissed by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros Thursday afternoon.

— CBS News Chicago (@cbschicago.bsky.social) 2026-05-21T20:04:03.913Z

[moniss]

5. Lying SOB says he didn't know and that

nobody had intent to deceive. I just can't stand that the judges don't come down like a ton of bricks on lawyers like this.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Are you sure? The USA has some pretty respectable credentials.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_S._Boutros

I'd like to hear more about the AUSA.

And good morning.

Edited: on second thought, maybe I'm the one who needs to look into this further.

Thanks for prodding me.

[moniss]

7. There's now way that

he wasn't getting "blow by blow" info and also doing constant strategy with his "team" working on this extremely high profile case. Even a barely competent management type would know from the start the enormity of the political/PR/career implications of this case and I don't believe his "I knew nothing" routine for one minute.

People with good credentials in all professions and walks of life sell out every day. It's a matter of whether people take ethics seriously. I would point to the career DOJ lawyers and FBI agents who have resigned rather than violate ethics to "go along" with this cabal. I would add the recent top lawyer for the Treasury who just resigned rather than rubber stamp or be any part of the new fascist slush fund.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Ken White has been commenting on this debacle.

Last edited Fri May 22, 2026, 06:24 AM - Edit history (1)

Some notes now that I’ve seen the transcript of the hearing, thanks to @lizdye.bsky.social .

First: the government dismissed the felony count in an effort to convince the judge not to make them produce full transcripts, knowing they showed serious misconduct.

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T00:19:35.062Z

The judge in the trial, U.S. District Judge April Perry, had herself been an AUSA, so she wasn't being fooled.

/28 Postscript: In evaluating the judge’s reaction, bear in mind she was an AUSA for 12 years, including in supervisory positions.

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T01:45:06.512Z

The attorney for the defense didn't wander this to stop at the AUSA level.

/9 Defense lawyer: Can this plz go RIGHT TO THE TOP
Judge: Oh fuck yeah

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T00:30:04.521Z

What a mess.

More:

‘Broadview 6’ judge orders feds to closed-door hearing over grand jury transcripts, just days before trial

It’s unclear what prompted Wednesday’s order from U.S. District Judge April Perry, but it seems like bad news for prosecutors. The feds are set to take four protesters to trial Tuesday; all are accused of forcibly impeding a federal agent outside of an immigration processing facility.

By Jon Seidel May 20, 2026, 2:05pm EDT

{snip}

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. The lead prosecutor had been Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg.

She left in February. She was replaced by AUSA William Hogan.

Lead prosecutor in ‘Broadview Six’ immigration protest case leaving for DC ahead of high-profile trial

By Jason Meisner | [e-mail] | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: February 23, 2026 at 2:53 PM CST | UPDATED: February 24, 2026 at 4:47 PM CST

The lead prosecutor in the politically charged “Broadview Six” case accusing a group of Democrats and other protesters of conspiring to impede immigration agents at the Broadview ICE facility is leaving the office for a temporary detail in Washington, D.C.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Dick Durbin, a committee spokesperson confirmed Monday. Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, which vets presidential nominees for the federal judiciary and U.S. attorney posts, is retiring in January 2027.

Mecklenburg is not expected to return to Chicago until next year and will miss the Broadview Six trial, which is currently slated to begin May 26. She officially withdrew from the case without comment last week. She also has stepped down from her role in a sweeping fraud case against former executives at Loretto Hospital.

{snip}

I gather that the day-to-day work was being carried out by the junior prosecutor, AUSA Matthew Skiba.

Handed "assistant us attorney skiba," AI returned:

Matthew Skiba is an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) working in the Northern District of Illinois. He gained notable attention as one of the prosecutors in the federal "Broadview Six" case.
• "Broadview Six" Case: Skiba, alongside AUSA William Hogan, was involved in the high-profile prosecution of six individuals accused of surrounding an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) van in Broadview, Illinois.
• Case Dismissal: In May 2026, prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges with prejudice after U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer and the defense highlighted prosecutorial misconduct before the grand jury. Skiba noted in court transcripts that he was a junior prosecutor at the time and had been accompanied by a senior veteran who handled the grand jury proceedings.

For the latest case developments and more information, you can read the reporting on the Chicago Sun-Times or the Capitol News Illinois coverage of the trial cancellation.

‘Broadview 6’ trial canceled as prosecutors acknowledge misconduct before grand jury

May 21, 2026 — According to the record of Thursday's closed-door hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skiba reluctantly pointed the finger at his former colleague Sheri Me...

{snip}

Ken White again:

/10 Trumpist prosecutor: well, firstly, this was only my second grand jury hearing ever, I am but a smol bean, and secondly, I just found out that vouching is bad?

Holy fucking shit this is humiliating for DoJ.

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T00:32:35.314Z

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Ken White has some unkind thoughts about USA Boutros too.

/12 The US Attorney himself cannot read a room for SHIT

— Popehat Likes The Triangles (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-05-22T00:38:42.463Z

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. If you have nothing better to do for the rest of the day ...

https://news.google.com/search?q=matthew skiba assistant us attorney&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en