Federal prosecutors in Minnesota charged 15 people on June 16, 2026 with conspiracy for protesting ICE operations in the Twin Cities during Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.
15 Minnesotans Face Federal Conspiracy Charges for Anti-ICE Protest Activity
The lead charge is “conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers” under federal law. Some of the 15 also face counts of solicitation to commit violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, and destruction of government property. Twelve were arrested on June 16, one was already in custody, and two remained at large.
The indictment targets members of Direct Action Minnesota, known as DAMN, a coalition prosecutors describe as tied to “two Minneapolis-based Antifa groups.” Trump designated antifa a “domestic terror organization” in fall 2025, but antifa is not a formal organization, and no federal court has recognized it as one under U.S. terrorism statutes.
Operation Metro Surge sent roughly 3,000 federal immigration agents into the Twin Cities starting in late November. During that operation, agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in separate confrontations: Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. The 15 people now facing federal charges were protesting those operations.
Defense attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of the defendants and practices criminal defense and immigration law in Minneapolis, described who the accused actually are.
“All 15 of the defendants are members of the community, active in mutual aid, union members, workers, neighbors. The point of this is to spread fear to try to divide us.”
Bruce Nestor, criminal defense and immigration attorney, Minneapolis, June 17, 2026
The antifa link in the indictment carries legal weight prosecutors may be counting on. By tying DAMN to antifa, and antifa to Trump’s domestic terrorism designation, the government may be positioning itself to argue for harsher sentencing or to justify the breadth of surveillance used to build the case. No court has upheld antifa as a terrorist organization under U.S. law, which means that designation currently rests on an executive order, not a judicial finding.
A federal conspiracy conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 372 carries a potential sentence of up to six years per count. With 15 defendants facing charges simultaneously from a single coalition, the indictment represents one of the largest single protest-related conspiracy cases in the current enforcement period.
The case is active and pending in federal court in Minnesota’s District. Defense attorneys are building their cases now, before trial dates are set.
What You Can Do Now
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Call the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 514-2007 and tell them to drop the conspiracy charges against the 15 Minnesota defendants. Reference: anti-ICE protest indictments, District of Minnesota, filed June 2026. Demand the DOJ explain the legal basis for treating DAMN as connected to a terrorism designation no court has affirmed.
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Call your U.S. senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to request a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the DOJ’s use of federal conspiracy charges against protest organizers. Say: “I want you to demand an oversight hearing on the Minnesota indictments and the DOJ’s use of the antifa label to prosecute civilians.”
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Contact the National Lawyers Guild for legal defense resources. The NLG provides support for political defendants. Find their Minnesota chapter information and current defense fund details at nlg.org. Ask how to contribute directly to the defendants’ legal defense before trial dates are set.
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Contact your U.S. House representative at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and ask them to sign on to any congressional letter demanding the DOJ justify the Operation Metro Surge shootings of two U.S. citizens alongside these prosecutions. The contrast between those killings and these charges belongs in the public record.
Sources
NBC News: DOJ Charges 15 People It Says Impeded Agents During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown
The Washington Post: DOJ Charges 15 Minnesotans With Conspiracy to Block ICE, Claims Antifa Ties
Democracy Now: DOJ Charges 15 with Conspiracy for Anti-ICE Protests in Minnesota
ACLU: Know Your Rights, Protesting and the First Amendment
National Lawyers Guild: Legal Support for Political Defendants and Protest Cases