Federal prosecutors charge 15 in Minnesota anti-ICE protest conspiracy

Federal prosecutors in Minnesota unsealed a 94-page indictment Tuesday that charges 15 people with what they describe as a monthslong conspiracy to impede the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Twelve were arrested that day, two were still not in custody and one was already jailed, while four defendants face additional counts beyond conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

The case centers on the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Minnesota headquarters. Prosecutors say members and associates of Direct Action Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based network they describe as antifa-linked, used Signal chats to organize meetings, “shield” and “de-arrest” trainings, and blockades aimed at the federal building. The indictment also alleges plans to flip a trailer, form human chains across roadways and disrupt federal operations around the site.

Those allegations give prosecutors a more detailed roadmap than in earlier protest cases, many of which were recently dropped. They say the new filing links online coordination to specific conduct, including a defendant who allegedly posted an Instagram video urging protesters to “get your f*cking guns and stop these f*cking people.” The indictment also accuses defendants of following a federal agent from the Whipple building to Hudson, Wisconsin, kicking and denting a federal vehicle, brake-checking and side-swiping a federal officer, knocking notes out of an ICE agent’s hand, throwing blocks of ice at federal vehicles and stalking federal officers.

The charges include conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer, destruction of government property, interstate stalking, interstate threats and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. That breadth is part of the story: broad conspiracy statutes let prosecutors charge coordinated planning, not just completed assaults, but they also raise civil-liberties concerns when protest organizing, digital chats and ideological associations are folded into a criminal case.

The investigation unfolded against Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement effort that sparked protests after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, and the later fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents on January 24, 2026. Demonstrations clustered around the Whipple building and brought arrests, tear gas, pepper spray and repeated clashes with federal officers. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Diana E. Murphy federal courthouse in St. Paul on Tuesday, and some tried to block a courthouse door before officers used pepper spray.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy said the inquiry found extensive planning, material support and coordinated attacks against federal personnel and facilities. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the defendants were charged for what they did, not what they said. Critics of the Trump administration’s antifa framing argue the term is an umbrella label, not a single formal organization, and at least 30 Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, have previously raised First Amendment objections to the designation. The indictment now tests whether prosecutors can prove an organized campaign of violence rather than a series of volatile protests.