DOJ indicts 15 linked to anti-ICE protests in Minnesota

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

Federal prosecutors have charged 15 members and associates of a Minnesota anti-ICE activist network with crimes ranging from stalking to assault.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that members of Direct Action Minnesota, known as DAMN, were indicted following a federal investigation into what officials described as a “coordinated violence” targeting federal immigration and law enforcement officers.

“The arrests of these rioters is a win for law and order. If you lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “We have ZERO tolerance for violence against our law enforcement. If you assault or obstruct law enforcement, you will face the consequences.”

Federal authorities arrested 12 defendants in a coordinated operation over the last 24 hours, according to the DOJ. Two remain at large, while another was already in federal custody on unrelated charges. They are being charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

“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.”

According to the indictment, the group organized and carried out actions aimed at disrupting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, including blockades at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, surveillance of federal agents and confrontations with law enforcement officers. The federal operations included the highly-controversial Operation Metro Surge.

“For those who choose to threaten or harm federal officers, the Department of Justice will hold you accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota. “The direct actions alleged in the indictment are un-American. And they will be met with swift justice.”

The eight-count indictment also alleges DAMN members worked with other groups, like Antifa, to identify and respond to immigration enforcement activity throughout the Minneapolis area.

The announcement of charges and arrests quickly prompted protests outside the Warren E. Burger Federal Courthouse in St. Paul on Tuesday.

Stu Smith, an investigative analyst with City Journal, condemned the protests, which led to law enforcement officers using crowd-control tactics.

“You can protest. You can criticize ICE. You can be furious about federal charges,” Smith said on social media. “But you cannot swarm a federal courthouse and try to intimidate the justice system in real time.”

Also in the wake of the protests, the Department of Homeland Security doubled down on the charges on Wednesday on social media.

“Our officers are facing a coordinated campaign of violence against them, including from these Antifa rioters in Minnesota,” the official DHS account said. “Let these indictments be a warning to anyone who lays a hand on our law enforcement: we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

The defendants face a variety of federal charges (view the full list HERE).