One day after being federally indicted for her role in obstructing immigration officers outside an Illinois detention facility, Gen Z House candidate Kat Abughazaleh rage-quit an interview after being asked about her charges. 

Abughazaleh joined Tara Palmeri on her podcast Thursday, which followed an indictment by a grand jury alleging the Illinois congressional candidate “physically hindered and impeded” a federal agent who was “forced to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.” Abughazaleh was one of six people named in the indictment, which also alleged the suspects scratched the word “PIG” into the side of a vehicle being driven by a federal immigration officer in addition to banging, pushing, impeding and vandalizing the car. 

“Did she just sign off? Did she just leave the chat?” Palmeri questioned after Abughazaleh spontaneously removed herself from the virtual interview after only being asked a question or two about the charges she is facing and their severity. “I’m so confused. I’m sorry, I don’t know what just happened. Um…okay. Well, she asked– she left because I asked her questions about what happened that day. Alright, well I will continue with the conversation on my own, I guess. This is very bizarre.”

CONSERVATIVES RIP GEN Z HOUSE CANDIDATE’S FREE SPEECH CLAIM AFTER FEDERAL INDICTMENT: ‘SHE’S LYING’

Abughazaleh’s abrupt exit came after she appeared to get frustrated with Palmeri’s questions regarding her federal charges.

“What do you think about those charges though, they seem really serious?” Palmeri asked Abughazaleh, noting they include accusations of “conspiracy to impede or injure an ICE officer” and “assaulting or impeding that officer.” 

“Those are pretty big charges,” Palmeri remarked.        

Abughazaleh responded that she “thinks” the charges were “slightly different,” but added that “no matter what the charges are in the indictment” she plans to plead not guilty. “This is a political prosecution plain and simple.”

But Palmeri continued to press the Gen Z candidate about the severity of her charges, particularly on whether she was party to scratching the word “PIG” in the side of the federal immigration officer’s car. 

‘GEN Z’ DEM CANDIDATE CHARGED WITH INTERFERING WITH ICE POSTED VIDEO OF HERSELF IN MOB BLOCKING UNMARKED SUV

“I’m not speaking to the specifics of anything that’s in the indictment right now, but, like I said, I do plan on pleading not guilty and the evidence will come out in court and I plan on winning,” Abughazaleh responded with a stern demeanor much different from what she had at the start of the discussion. 

Then Palmeri played a video recording of the incident alleged in the indictment, where Abughazaleh can be seen impeding an ICE officer’s car with a large group of protesters, which evidently was the final straw for her. 

“When you see that, what do you think right now?” Palmeri asked. 

“Yeah, Tara, once again, this is my first time being federally indicted, like I said,” Abughazaleh shot back. “I plan on pleading not guilty, the evidence will come out in court and I plan on winning. Thank you so much for having me.”

Following Abughazaleh’s response, her camera disappeared but Palmeri appeared unaware she had left and immediately went into asking another question before realizing what had happened.

“Yeah, so I guess, this – this is – I’ve never had that happen before,” Palmeri said in disbelief once she understood the situation. “Apologies,” she added before pointing out that the young congressional candidate will have to get used to answering tough questions if she wants to serve in Congress.

“This could hinder her ability to serve in Congress, it could make it more difficult – you know, some people might not vote for her, but at the same time, she’s probably raised a ton of money off of it,” Palmeri continued about the charges after Abughazaleh left, noting she has been in second in a very crowded primary of 13 candidates in her race to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District. 

“I don’t understand why she left the chat. I thought I was asking some pretty basic questions, and, I don’t know, it doesn’t really bode well for – if she wants to be a member of Congress,” Palmeri continued. “I think it probably would’ve been better to just talk through it, but if she can’t take a few questions about what happened from me, how is she going to handle representing an entire district?”

Fox News Digital reached out to Abughazaleh’s campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response in time for publication.

Coming off their recent Sunday win, the Detroit Lions players and staff joined others in the community to put in a win for Thanksgiving meals for those in need.

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, players and staff joined volunteers from Meijer and the Lineage Foundation for Good in packing Thanksgiving meal kits at Gleaners Community Bank in Taylor.

Volunteers packed canned and dry goods into 3,000 Thanksgiving meal kits.

Those meal kits are part of the Lions’ plans for 10,000 kits – double from last year. Part of what made the meal kits possible is donations from Detroit Lions partners.

For years, the Lions have done Thanksgiving meal initiatives to help those in need. This is the second annual partnership with Grand Rapids-based grocer, Meijer, and the third with Gleaners. As they did last year, Meijer, the exclusive grocery partner for the Lions, is donating all proceeds from this year’s “Raise the Roar” Lions flag sales to the Detroit Lions Foundation, with proceeds tackling food insecurity.

The meal kit packing initiative began a month ago and included Detroit Lions partners AAA – The Auto Club Group (ACG), Delta Airlines, Jiffy Mix, Lineage Foundation for Good and Modern Woodmen of America.

Angela Halverson, director of community giving for Gleaners Community Food Bank, said packing these meal kits on Tuesday represents a “community coming together to help neighbors,” who might be food insecure this time of year.

“The timing is important because Thanksgiving is in a couple of short weeks from now, and we want to make sure that many in southeastern Michigan are going to sit down to a warm meal that they can count on for that Thanksgiving dinner.”

More: Dan Campbell’s unusual decision gives Lions an interesting advantage over Eagles

More: Detroit Lions fans fired up during 2025 NFL season

Halverson said many metro Detroiters will choose between heating their house and purchasing food.

“The Lions are coming together in a partnership with Gleaners to help take one of those worries, ideally off the table,” Halverson told the Free Press.

The 10,000 Thanksgiving meal kits equate to providing more than 330,000 meals. This year the distribution includes metro Detroit food banks as well as those Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw and Traverse City.

Each meal kit includes canned and dry goods. There are green beans, corn, fruit, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cranberry sauce and Jiffy Mix.

Once the kits make it to distribution sites, there’s an addition of a 3-pound bag of fresh apples from North Bay Produce and a whole turkey.

In the boxes are everything you would want for Thanksgiving from potatoes to produce.

“It’s nutritious and warm comforting food and exactly what we need this time of year,” said Halverson.

For Gleaners Community Food Bank information visit gcfb.org.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on food and dining in metro Detroit.

• Updated: Nov. 11, 2025, 12:01 p.m.
• |Published: Nov. 11, 2025, 12:00 p.m.