Federal prosecutors charge 15 Minnesota activists over ICE protests

Federal prosecutors charged 15 Minnesota activists on Tuesday over alleged efforts to obstruct and harm federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge. The case adds to the Trump administration’s prosecutions of protesters who opposed the Minnesota immigration crackdown, which drew criticism over violence and warrantless home entries, according to Al Jazeera.

US Attorney Daniel Rosen announced the charges in Minneapolis and linked them to President Donald Trump’s directive last year to “counter domestic terrorism and organised political violence.” Rosen described the defendants as members of antifa and said they were connected to Direct Action Minnesota, which Al Jazeera reported was formerly known as Twin Cities Direct Action.

The charges include conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers, solicitation to commit violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assaulting federal officers and destruction of government property, Rosen said. Twelve defendants were arrested Tuesday morning, two remained at large and one had already been detained, according to Rosen.

Rosen said prosecutors were targeting conduct rather than protected speech. “These defendants have been charged not for what they said, but for what they did,” he told reporters, saying the alleged conspiracy sought to interfere with immigration enforcement “by force.”

Indictment focuses on protest planning

The 94-page indictment portrays the defendants as people who sought to incite violence against federal agents, according to Al Jazeera. It quotes defendant Cameron Kennedy as writing on Facebook that nonviolence alone would not win and that militants were needed.

The indictment also says defendants tracked federal vehicles, trained demonstrators to use shields and organised blockades around the Bishop Henry Whipple Building, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices are located. Prosecutors said the alleged goal was to forcibly challenge, block or stop raids, detentions and deportations.

Reporters asked Rosen whether any federal officers had been injured by actions tied to the 15 defendants, Al Jazeera reported. Rosen said the number of injured officers would emerge during the prosecution and argued that bodily harm was not required to establish a serious federal crime.

Operation Metro Surge drew backlash

Operation Metro Surge ran in Minnesota from December through February after Trump authorised a hardline immigration enforcement campaign, according to Al Jazeera. The operation faced criticism for excessive force and tactics that included entering private homes without judicial warrants, Al Jazeera reported.

Two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot dead during the operation in January, prompting national outrage, according to Al Jazeera. Democrats have described the operation as politically motivated against left-leaning jurisdictions.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wrote Tuesday that Operation Metro Surge was “nothing but a show of force to intimidate states that voted against Trump.” Walz added that Minnesotans showed “what standing up to authoritarianism looks like.”

The case comes after Trump issued a September executive order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation. Analysts cited by Al Jazeera have questioned that framing, saying antifa is a broad label for anti-fascist movements rather than a single organisation, while the Brennan Center for Justice called the order an effort to “criminalise opposition.”

The Justice Department has pursued other cases tied to Operation Metro Surge protests. Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors previously obtained an indictment against nine people, including journalist Don Lemon, over a church protest, then added 30 more defendants in February; some related cases have later been dismissed or dropped because of evidence problems or false statements by federal officials.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.