Additional Coverage:
Minnesota Operation Metro Surge Spurs Controversy Over DHS Surveillance of Activist Groups
MINNEAPOLIS – Court filings reveal that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigators conducted extensive surveillance of progressive organizations and labor unions amid a federal crackdown on protests in Minnesota earlier this year. The disclosures came as part of the legal defense for 15 individuals charged with conspiracy related to anti-ICE activism.
Documents submitted Thursday in Minneapolis show DHS agents secretly obtained financial records from labor unions-including the Service Employees International Union and Communications Workers of America-and monitored meetings held by social justice groups at private venues, public parks, and churches. This surveillance occurred during Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiative targeting protest activity in the Twin Cities.
According to the filings, DHS operatives gathered license plate information from attendees of an anti-ICE gathering at a suburban church to identify participants. They then compiled detailed dossiers containing names, photographs, addresses, vehicle registrations, and personal employment and family information.
The federal case involves 15 protesters, labeled by prosecutors as members of a loosely organized coalition called Direct Action MN. They face charges accusing them of acting as “antifa” domestic terrorists aiming to disrupt ICE operations. The Trump administration’s ICE surge in Minnesota sparked widespread demonstrations and volunteer-organized patrols, with two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, tragically killed during the unrest.
Defense attorney Kevin Riach, representing defendant Isaac Sant, obtained the surveillance records through discovery and filed them with the court. He asserts the government unlawfully used administrative subpoenas-not court orders-to collect private financial data without proper legal justification. Riach argued, “This broad collection of financial records of labor and social justice advocacy organizations, done in secret and with no articulable criminal predicate, violates both the First Amendment and these organizations’ right to financial privacy.”
Among the disclosed documents is a DHS chart illustrating the so-called “Operation Puppet Master” and “Operation Whipple Shield” surveillance programs. The chart alleges criminal links between Direct Action MN and several groups, including the AFL-CIO, Minneapolis Federation of Educators, Democratic Socialists of America, and the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.
The revelations sparked strong condemnation from a coalition of labor and civil society organizations. They denounced what they described as baseless investigations and surveillance targeting community and labor groups who mobilized tens of thousands of Minnesotans to peacefully defend constitutional rights amid a chaotic federal enforcement operation.
“We know the truth, and we will not be intimidated,” the coalition said in a statement. “When self-serving politicians are losing, they lie and attempt political repression, trying to silence the voices of those who bravely stand up to them. Minnesotans will not be intimidated or divided by sham accusations or investigations of groups and community members who organized and stood together during Operation Metro Surge.”