DOJ Arrests 15 Antifa-Linked Members for Allegedly Impeding ICE Operations
Federal prosecutors have charged 15 people accused of participating in a coordinated campaign to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations through intimidation, harassment, property destruction and violence, according to a newly unsealed indictment.
The Justice Department announced the charges against members and associates of Direct Action Minnesota, or DAMN, a Minneapolis-based organization that authorities say is linked to local Antifa and anarchist groups.
Prosecutors allege the group functioned as a highly organized network focused on disrupting federal immigration enforcement operations rather than engaging in traditional protest activity.
The indictment includes charges ranging from conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers to interstate stalking, interstate threats, solicitation to commit crimes of violence, assaults on federal officers and destruction of government property.
Federal authorities arrested 12 suspects during coordinated enforcement actions.
Two additional defendants remain at large, while another individual was already in federal custody on unrelated charges, according to the Justice Department.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the alleged conduct as a sustained campaign targeting law enforcement personnel.
“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,” Blanche said in a statement.
“Their actions created a dangerous environment that threatened not only their intended targets, but the community as a whole,” he added.
According to prosecutors, members of the organization trained for confrontations and maintained encrypted communications networks to coordinate activities.
The indictment alleges that participants used Signal chat groups to track federal agents, monitor government vehicles and coordinate rapid responses whenever ICE operations were identified.
Federal investigators say the group developed tactics it referred to as “hard blockades” and “soft blockades.”
Hard blockades allegedly involved the use of vehicles, trailers and physical obstacles designed to block roads and prevent federal officers from accessing facilities.
Soft blockades allegedly relied on shield formations and coordinated resistance tactics intended to impede officers on foot.
Prosecutors say those methods were used during efforts to disrupt operations at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis earlier this year.
The indictment also alleges that members conducted what they called “commuting” operations.
According to investigators, those activities involved following federal immigration officers from government facilities to private locations and monitoring their movements.
In one incident described in court documents, a defendant allegedly rammed a government vehicle driven by a federal officer after following him from a federal facility.
Federal prosecutors further allege that the network extended beyond Minnesota.
According to the indictment, members traveled to cities including Chicago, Ann Arbor and Seattle as part of what participants described as an “Anarchist Speaking Tour.”
During those events, prosecutors allege members trained activists in tactics designed to obstruct immigration enforcement operations and disrupt federal law enforcement activities, per the Conservative Brief.
The Justice Department also identified alleged links between Direct Action Minnesota and the Black Cat Worker’s Collective, a Minneapolis-based Antifa affinity group.
Investigators said Antifa-related materials were recovered from at least one defendant during an earlier arrest.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the arrests and warned that attacks on law enforcement officers would be prosecuted.
Federal officials emphasized that the case is focused on alleged criminal conduct and not peaceful protest activity protected by the Constitution.
The charges remain allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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