Justice Department charges 15 Minnesota activists over immigration-raid protests
Federal prosecutors charged 15 people connected to Direct Action Minnesota with conspiring to impede federal immigration enforcement, Al Jazeera reported . Twelve were taken into custody on June 16 and two remained at large. The counts include conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers, assaulting federal officers, interstate threats and stalking, and destruction of government property.
The indictment alleges the group organized to “forcibly challenge, block or stop immigration raids, detentions and deportations,” maintaining databases of federal vehicles, training protesters with shields, and staging blockades at ICE offices. US Attorney Daniel Rosen said the defendants were charged “not for what they said, but for what they did.”
The charges grow out of protests against Operation Metro Surge, a hardline enforcement push from December 2025 to February 2026 during which two US citizens were shot dead, drawing national criticism. By framing protest logistics as a criminal conspiracy, the case tests how far the government can go in prosecuting organized opposition to immigration raids — a line the defense is likely to contest on First Amendment grounds.