Fifteen people charged over alleged interference in Minnesota immigration crackdown

Fifteen people in Minnesota were charged with conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers over their response to a controversial and deadly immigration enforcement crackdown in the state earlier this year.

The US attorney for Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, and the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations announced the charges at a press conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

The prosecutors allege the defendants were part of two Minneapolis-based “antifa” groups that “violently oppose immigration law enforcement”.

Of those charged, 12 people were arrested on Tuesday and one was already in custody on other federal charges, according to officials, who said two remain at large.

Rosen showed social media posts and videos of a couple of the people indicted to underscore the allegations that they intended to impede law enforcement. In one video, a man declares he is antifa and discusses bringing guns to a demonstration. Rosen did not answer whether any agents or officers were injured by the defendants.

The Trump administration sent in thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota starting in late 2025, in part predicated on fraud allegations against Somali residents. The crackdown led to protest and a broad community response, from people monitoring agents to providing food for those staying home. Agents killed two people – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – in the streets, leading to further protest.

Outside the federal courthouse on Tuesday, a group of dozens of people gathered to speak out against the charges, including Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was charged in a separate case involving a protest at a church. Signs among the crowd carried messages such as “stop FBI entrapment” and “protesting is not a crime”.

The charges are the latest attempt by federal prosecutors to crack down on opposition to immigration enforcement.

Rosen also alluded that there could be more charges as they continue investigating response to the Minnesota crackdown, which was known as “Operation Metro Surge”. “If you are actively conspiring to impede law enforcement … you ought to go on the assumption that we’re watching, and we’ll get you,” he said.

Meanwhile, editor and reporter Sarah Lazare of the non-profit newsroom Workday Magazine on Tuesday posted on X, “The Immigrant Defense Network is confirming that ‘a constitutional observer’s home in South Minneapolis was raided by [Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations], resulting in an arrest.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration secured its first successful conviction on the basis of “antifa” terrorism in the Prairieland case in north Texas, following a non-fatal shooting at a 4 July 2025 noise demonstration, in a case with 22 defendants across federal and state charges. In Spokane, Washington, three activists were convicted of conspiracy charges over an anti-ICE demonstration.

The federal government also charged six people in Illinois with conspiracy over a protest at the Broadview detention facility, though the government later dropped the charges amid claims of prosecutorial misconduct.

Nearly 40 others, including journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, face federal charges over a protest at a church in St Paul, Minnesota, where a pastor reportedly worked as an ICE official. Local prosecutors declined to charge the protesters.