Federal prosecutors on Tuesday indicted 15 members and associates of Direct Action Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based direct action coalition, on charges including conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property. Twelve were arrested Tuesday; two remain at large, and one was already in federal custody on separate charges.
The charges stem from a monthslong investigation focused on members and associates of two activist groups that Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen described as having “violently opposed the enforcement of federal law.” He characterized the groups as “antifa,” an umbrella term for a diffuse movement of militant left-wing activists. Some defendants had self-identified as antifa, he said.
“As alleged, these defendants, which included members of Antifa groups, engaged in an unrelenting campaign of harassment and violence targeting federal and local law enforcement,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Their actions created a dangerous environment that threatened not only their intended targets but the community as a whole. These arrests demonstrate the Department’s commitment to law and order and stopping organized political violence in Minneapolis and beyond.”
The alleged conspiracy began in January, shortly after the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge, its sweeping immigration crackdown in Minnesota, in response to reports of fraud within the state’s Somali community, according to PBS. The operation brought thousands of federal agents into the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, often traveling in unmarked SUVs, at times banging down doors, waiting outside schools and demanding that residents produce proof of citizenship. Federal prosecutors said the operation resulted in more than 4,000 arrests.
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According to the federal indictment, Direct Action Minnesota describes itself as “a decentralized coalition of working-class people engaged in various forms of community defense” and trained members in the use of shields against law enforcement, surveillance, event planning, role differentiation and rapid mass mobilization against ICE enforcement actions.
The indictment details two major direct actions: one on Jan. 23 and another on March 1, both targeting the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. During both actions, prosecutors allege DAMN members deployed “hard” and “soft” blockades against federal and local law enforcement, including vehicles, trailers and Czech hedgehogs, static obstacles made of metal angle beams — to obstruct roads near the building. Members of the “soft blockade” team allegedly wielded homemade shields constructed from plastic, wood and metal to physically resist law enforcement.
The indictment also details alleged “commuting” tactics, in which members followed and surveilled federal immigration officers from the Whipple Building to their residences and other locations. Members allegedly used a Signal group chat called “Whipple Watch” to identify federal vehicles, track license plate numbers and relay information to field members in real time.
Among the more serious specific allegations: on May 18, defendant Natasha Rakotz allegedly followed a federal immigration officer from the Whipple Building and sideswiped the officer’s vehicle, causing a collision. Separately, on May 15, defendant William Morgan allegedly arrived at the scene of an active HSI operation on Bloomington Avenue, approached an agent, knocked notes out of his hand and kicked the government vehicle, causing dents.
DAMN members also conducted an “Anarchist Speaking Tour” in April, providing training to direct action groups in Chicago, Ann Arbor and Seattle on how to obstruct, prevent and impede federal immigration enforcement operations.
“For those who choose to threaten or harm federal officers, the Department of Justice will hold you accountable,” Rosen said Tuesday. “The direct actions alleged in the indictment are un-American.”
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The announcement drew an immediate response outside the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in St. Paul, where several defendants were scheduled to make their first court appearances. Protesters gathered during the 2 p.m. hour and clashed with U.S. Marshals outside the building. Videos from the scene showed protesters attempting to keep a courthouse door open as agents deployed gas, pepper spray and flash bangs. Video captured by a KSTP photographer showed an orange chemical on the outside of a courthouse door, with two apparent chemical canisters remaining on the ground. Dozens of protesters were heard chanting, “Drop the charges, drop them now.”
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, who is herself facing federal charges stemming from a separate anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church in January, addressed the crowd outside the courthouse. “With the 15 people who were arrested this morning for standing up, we have to continue to stand up for them,” Armstrong said. “They put their necks on the lines. They put their bodies on the lines.”
Defense attorneys and legal experts pushed back sharply on the charges. Jordan Kushner, who represents Erik Davis, a professor and chair of Macalester College’s religious studies department, said the indictment’s allegations against his client amount to attending meetings. “He’s chair of his department, and he was acting his conscience here,” Kushner said. “The only thing he’s accused of in the indictment is participating in meetings.”
Kushner also said he believes federal prosecutors used an informant or undercover agent embedded in the protest groups. “They probably had an informant or an undercover agent who probably recorded the conversations and recorded the private email, private messaging through Signal chats,” Kushner said. “And you know, it’s disturbing that the government is putting its resources into spying on political activists.”
Defense attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of the other 15 defendants, disputed the government’s characterization of those charged. “All 15 of the defendants are members of the community, active in mutual aid, union members, workers, neighbors,” Nestor said. “The point of this is to spread fear to try to divide us.”
Constitutional law professor David Schultz, who has no ties to the case, said the charges appear to be an overreach. “These are the types of actions that might at best warrant misdemeanor prosecution, maybe in local court. But to charge at felony-level conspiracy to obstruct government action, at least on the face of it, looks like an overreach,” Schultz said.
University of St. Thomas law professor Mark Osler separately told MPR News that proving the conspiracy charges against the 15 defendants will be difficult for federal prosecutors.
Community organizers disputed the government’s account of events. Elianne Farhat of TakeAction Minnesota said those charged were “exercising our constitutional rights and looking out for our neighbors and keeping them safe.” Emilia González Avalos, Executive Director of UNIDOS MN, said she believes the indictments are “an attempt to shift guilt, to shift the narrative, because thousands of constitutional observers and thousands of Minnesotans have a lot of evidence that the violence did not come from regular people here.”
A judge rejected prosecutors’ requests that defendants post cash bail before release. All are barred from contacting each other and from protesting on federal property. No future court dates have been set.
The 15 defendants named in the indictment are Isaac Auman Sant, Emmett James Doyle, Cameron Kennedy, Callum Robinet, Erik Davis, Brian Stillwell Apland, Kyle Wagner, Hannah Margaret Van De Water Davis, Treasure Cay Thoreson, Nathan Junho Kim, Alec Stewart, Douglas Misterek, Dustin Scott Beisell, William Morgan and Natasha Rakotz.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. This is a developing story.
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