ST. PAUL, Minn. (Valley News Live) – A federal grand jury indicted 15 people Wednesday on charges they conspired to obstruct U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Minneapolis area, using blockades, vehicle surveillance, shields, and physical confrontations to prevent federal agents from doing their jobs.
The indictment, filed June 11 in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, charges the defendants under eight counts, including conspiracy to impede federal officers, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, and destruction of government property.
The Defendants
The 15 defendants named in the indictment are Isaac Auman Sant, also known as “Ike”; Emmett James Doyle, also known as “Plotnikov”; Cameron Kennedy, also known as “Cam” and “Olive Knite”; Callum Robinet, also known as “Juliet K”; Erik Davis, also known as “Errico”; Brian Stillwell Apland, also known as “Tiny”; Kyle Wagner, also known as “Kaos”; Hannah Margaret Van De Water Davis, also known as “Nube”; Treasure Cay Thoreson, also known as “Schatzi”; Nathan Junho Kim, also known as “Moon Bear”; Alec Stewart, also known as “Mac”; Douglas Misterek, also known as “Doug”; Dustin Scott Beisell, also known as “Sparky”; William Morgan, also known as “Willow”; and Natasha Rakotz, also known as “Anuran.”
The Organization
Prosecutors allege the defendants were members of Twin Cities Direct Action (TCDA), which later renamed itself Direct Action Minnesota (DAMN). The indictment describes the group as “dedicated and committed to direct action against federal law and immigration enforcement.”
DAMN describes itself as “a decentralized coalition of working-class people engaged in various forms of community defense against the current Federal Occupation happening within the wider metro area, and against state and far-right violence more broadly,” according to the indictment…