Fifteen Minneapolis protesters have been indicted on federal conspiracy charges for resisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations earlier this year. Known as the 'Minnesota 15', the group is accused of coordinating with rapid response teams to alert people to ICE agents and organising blockades at the city's ICE headquarters. Among them is Emmett Doyle, a musician and carpenter who performed an Irish protest ballad days after pleading not guilty. 'That song has been a source of inspiration for me, in finding courage to face this ordeal,' he said.
The 94-page indictment does not stem from one specific incident but from a pattern of opposition to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Prosecutors have linked the group to 'antifa', a loosely organised anti-fascist movement that the administration designated a domestic terror organisation last autumn. 'These are teachers and nurses and electricians,' said Kelly Petersen, a Minneapolis organiser. 'They just have to keep going to work, knowing that they did what 100,000 other people did, and that they got charged for it.'
The case is part of a broader effort by the Department of Justice to criminalise resistance. Similar charges have been brought against protesters in Chicago, Spokane and Prairieland, Texas, with mixed outcomes. In Chicago, the case was dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct; in Spokane, protesters were convicted and face up to six years in prison; and in Prairieland, sentences ranged from 30 to 100 years. 'This is naked political repression, part of a nationwide trend,' said Isaac Sant, the lead defendant in the Minneapolis case.
In January, thousands of immigration agents flooded the Twin Cities for Operation Metro Surge, the largest immigration operation in US history. Residents formed neighbourhood watch groups to track ICE vehicles, brought supplies to those in hiding, and faced violent tactics including tear gas. Two residents monitoring ICE activity, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents; no one has been charged for their deaths.
Despite the charges, organisers say they will not back down. 'They're trying to stop us and silence us and scare us,' said defendant Treasure Thoreson. 'I'm not going to let them scare me.'
