Homeland Security agents posed as anti-deportation activists and secretly recorded meetings at a Minneapolis union hall as part of a sweeping investigation into an alleged antifa-linked network that targeted federal immigration officers.
The undercover operation, revealed through a defense discovery motion filed on behalf of lead defendant Isaac Sant, placed federal agents inside a February 15 gathering at the United Labor Center billed as a "Workers Assembly to Defeat ICE and Plan the Next Mass Strike." Roughly 200 people attended, according to investigators. The Democratic Socialists of America's Twin Cities chapter and several labor groups helped organize the event.
Agents didn't just listen. They recorded. And Homeland Security Investigations dug into the finances of major unions, including the Service Employees International Union, looking for what internal records described as "protest domestic terrorist financing." The probe fed into a 94-page federal indictment charging 15 alleged members of Direct Action Minnesota, known as DAMN, with conspiring to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
HSI ran two parallel operations out of Minneapolis. Project Whipple Shield aimed to trace the money and organization behind activists targeting the Federal Whipple Building, which served as the base for ICE's Operation Metro Surge in the city. Operation Puppet Master launched after Border Patrol fatally shot an anti-ICE activist named Alex Pretti. That second probe identified what investigators called a network of "violent opportunists", the group they labeled DAMN.
The Whipple Building became the flashpoint. The Washington Examiner reported that DAMN allegedly organized two major blockades outside the building, on January 3 and March 1, using encrypted Signal messaging to coordinate surveillance, track ICE personnel, and monitor federal vehicle license plates in real time through a group chat called "Whipple Watch." Members allegedly overturned recreational vehicles, hurled ice at federal officers, and built makeshift shields from plastic, wood, and metal to counter crowd-control measures.
The indictment paints a picture of something well beyond spontaneous protest. Defendants face charges including conspiracy to impede federal officers, interstate stalking, assault, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence.
Investigators obtained years of financial records tied to a Minneapolis bank account belonging to SEIU while probing possible connections between union money and the anti-ICE campaign. They also sought records from the Communications Workers of America involving donations and political action committee spending, and examined the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. Both CWA and IFPTE are affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
An initial review of the SEIU records turned up transactions consistent with normal union business, strike payments, supplies, dues, and medical expenses. Whether investigators found anything beyond routine activity is not addressed in the available filings. But the scope of the financial probe, reaching into the accounts of established labor organizations, signals how broadly federal authorities cast their net.
Newsmax reported that HSI investigative records noted the February 15 meeting concluded with attendees deciding to "concentrate on the abolition of ICE and not DHS." A flyer for the event had invited "Twin Cities workers, unions, community and rapid response groups" to "collectively decide the next mass action against ICE."
Sant's defense attorney, Kevin Riach, rejected the government's case in blunt terms.
"These wild conspiracy allegations are born from the fantasies of political retribution that animate the Trump administration."
Riach accused DHS of conducting an unconstitutional "mass spying campaign" targeting "ordinary people who were simply exercising their First Amendment right to protest ICE's lawless rampage in our state." Sant's defense team separately accused the government of having "dreamed up a conspiracy" involving major Minneapolis-area unions "with no evidence."
The defense framing leans heavily on First Amendment protections. And peaceful protest is, without question, constitutionally protected. Federal prosecutors drew a different line.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Roden framed the indictment as a response to conduct that went far beyond picketing, as the New York Post reported.
"Today's charges and arrests reflect a broad federal effort to address organized, lawless behavior, which seeks to disrupt the execution of federal law, endanger law enforcement, and, importantly, endanger the very communities that these defendants falsely claim to be protecting."
HSI Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy made the same distinction in remarks reported by Fox News.
"Peaceful protest is a protected right and a cornerstone of our democracy. We respect and defend that right. However, there's a clear line that cannot be crossed when protest turns into rioting, violence or criminal activity, it becomes unlawful and it will not be tolerated."
The indictment details specific allegations that land well past any protest line. William Morgan faces four charges including interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, and destruction of government property. Natasha Rakotz is accused of driving her car into a federal agent and injuring him. Defendant Cameron Kennedy posted on Facebook that "YOU WILL NEVER WIN WITH NON-VIOLENCE ALONE. Ever. No one has. No one will. You absolutely need militants to win." Another defendant, Kyle Wagner, allegedly recorded a recruitment video urging people to "Get your f***ing guns and stop these f***ing people."
The case against DAMN rests partly on the group's own digital trail. Members allegedly used Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to run real-time surveillance of federal officers, sharing license plate numbers, tracking vehicle movements, and coordinating rapid-response blockades. The "Whipple Watch" chat functioned as a command channel.
Some defendants allegedly followed ICE officers across state lines to locations near their homes. That conduct forms the basis of the interstate stalking charges, a federal offense that carries serious prison time and has nothing to do with holding a sign on a sidewalk.
Authorities allege DAMN members either directly confronted ICE officers near the Whipple Building or aided the effort through fundraising, organizing, and mass mobilization. The 94-page indictment lays out a structure that prosecutors describe as deliberate, coordinated, and designed to physically prevent federal law enforcement from doing its job.
Several open questions remain. The specific charges in the indictment beyond those named for individual defendants have not been fully detailed in public reporting. Whether investigators obtained court orders before accessing union financial records is unclear. The circumstances of Alex Pretti's fatal shooting by Border Patrol, the event that triggered Operation Puppet Master, have not been publicly detailed, including the date and location.
The defense will argue First Amendment protection. The government will argue that stalking federal officers to their homes, ramming cars into agents, and building shields to fight law enforcement is not speech. The 94-page indictment suggests prosecutors believe they have the evidence to prove it.
When activists cross the line from protest into organized obstruction of federal law, they stop being protesters and start being defendants. Fifteen people in Minneapolis are learning the difference.
