Federal prosecutors charge 15 people accused of impeding agents during Minnesota immigration crackdown

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday charged 15 people for allegedly impeding federal officers during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.

These 15 individuals were “members or associates” of Direct Action Minnesota (DAMN), a left-wing mobilization group that the DOJ accused of being affiliated with “antifa” members in the area, according to the indictment.

“DAMN also trains its members in the use of shields against law enforcement, surveillance, event planning, role differentiation, and rapid mass mobilization against ICE enforcement actions,” the indictment reads, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said during a press conference that some of the 15 people self-identified as antifa, and that 12 of them have been arrested. When asked by reporters to define antifa, Rosen said federal authorities “have plenty of people that self-identify in that way and you might want to ask them that.”

Rosen continued, “whether or not they actually, at the end of the day, cause bodily harm is not the measure of whether or not they committed a serious federal crime.”

They were charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate threat, two counts of interstate stalking, two counts of assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property.

The charges are in connection with alleged incidents of stalking ICE officers, setting up vehicle blockade around federal buildings and throwing ice at federal vehicles.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy told reporters that the charges were the result of a monthslong investigation.

“Let me be clear,” McCarthy told reporters. “Peaceful protest is a protected right and a cornerstone of our democracy. We respect and defend that right. However, there is a line that cannot be crossed.”

Clashes between Minnesota residents and federal officers exploded in January after two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement officers in separate incidents in Minneapolis. Local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, called on ICE to leave the city as the agency was carrying out “Operation Metro Surge.”

Last September, Trump signed an order classifying antifa as a domestic terror organization and directing federal agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle” its affiliates and funders, which many First Amendment Groups and Democratic lawmakers have taken issue with as a free speech issue.

Nine people accused of being linked to antifa were convicted in March of terrorism charges related to an attempted shooting and explosions at Prarieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, last year.

Federal prosecutors charge 15 people accused of impeding agents during Minnesota immigration crackdown

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