Federal immigration enforcement tactics and protest-related prosecutions have become a national flashpoint as the Trump administration expands cases tied to anti-ICE organizing. In Minneapolis, that broader crackdown now includes a local special education teacher whose arrest became one of the most visible episodes in the federal case. Prosecutors say the charges are tied in part to encrypted Signal chats that investigators cited in a sweeping Minnesota indictment.
Federal indictment names 15, including a Minneapolis-area teacher
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 16, 2026, that 15 members and associates of Direct Action Minnesota had been charged with federal crimes including conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking, interstate threats, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, assault on federal officers and destruction of government property, according to the department’s public statement. The Justice Department said federal agents conducted a coordinated operation over the prior 24 hours that resulted in 12 arrests, while two people were described as at large and one was already in federal custody on a separate matter.
Court records cited by the Justice Department say the case centers on direct actions around the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building and on what prosecutors described as “commuting” tactics used to identify, follow and confront federal officers. The department said members used the Whipple Watch Signal group chat and other Signal chats to relay sightings of federal vehicles, share identifying details and dispatch people to locations where immigration enforcement activity was underway.
Among the defendants is Treasure Thoreson, identified by the Minnesota Star Tribune as a special education teacher at Hmong International Academy. The Star Tribune reported that 14 defendants pleaded not guilty after the indictment was unsealed, while federal prosecutors described the underlying charging document as a 94-page case supported by large volumes of digital evidence, including Signal communications…