The Trump administration has been investigating progressive and mainstream groups involved in protests against its sweeping deportations, according to newly released government documents. This recalls the FBI's Cointelpro operations from the 1950s to the 1970s, which infiltrated and discredited leftist organizations.
Investigation of Protest Groups
The administration used its investigative powers in what it called "Operation Puppet Master" to pursue groups that opposed its deportation agenda. Federal investigators justified the probe by claiming these groups might have provided help and money to "violent opportunists and agitators" and engaged in "domestic terrorist financing."
In January, Minnesota was a center of deportation efforts, with about 3,000 federal agents deployed. Protesters took to the streets, recording detentions and sounding alarms. Instead of inquiring into agents' violence, the administration targeted protesters.
Legal Concerns
Federal conspiracy law requires two or more people to agree to commit a federal crime. The administration would have to show that groups knew protests would obstruct federal agents "by force, intimidation or threat" and that criminality was a purpose of their coordination.
The Department of Homeland Security issued administrative subpoenas without judicial authorization, collecting records and wire transfers from certain groups going back three years. Undercover investigators spied on public meetings and infiltrated Signal group chats, recording license plates at protest meetings.
Charges and Historical Parallels
Fifteen people have been charged with obstructing federal immigration operations in Minnesota. The 94-page indictment alleges blockades, throwing ice at federal vehicles, and "stalking" agents, but no injuries to specific ICE officers. Similar charges in parallel cases have been dismissed or dropped at a high rate.
The investigation brings back memories of Cointelpro under J Edgar Hoover, which targeted Black civil rights and anti-Vietnam war groups. Exposure of those abuses led to reforms that the Trump administration now seems determined to reverse.
Unidos MN, a human rights group in Minnesota, said the government is "lashing out desperately in hopes of intimidating people and organizations that have shown the power of communities acting together." Kenneth Roth, a Guardian US columnist and former executive director of Human Rights Watch, writes that this latest abuse shows the importance of continuing to stand up to Trump's lawless vision of his presidency.
