Records Reveal DHS Spying on Leftwing Groups, Anti-ICE Protesters

Newly disclosed records show the Department of Homeland Security ran an extensive spying operation against prominent leftwing organizations and protesters as part of an investigation into groups opposing an immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.

Internal investigative reports show DHS sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning nonprofits.

Nearly 30 internal law enforcement reports were released Thursday as part of a Justice Department criminal case against 15 Minneapolis protesters accused of conspiring to impede immigration officers during the Trump administration's regional surge. The records were disclosed by the government and submitted to the court by an attorney for one of the defendants.

The documents show DHS launched an inquiry in January called "Operation Puppet Master" to identify a "network of conspirators" organizing against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The operation began as community organizing against ICE grew following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

"I was shocked at the scope and the apparent lack of investigative discipline involved, but not totally surprised," said Kevin Riach, an attorney for one of the indicted protesters who filed the records in federal court.

DHS did not respond to requests for comment, and the Justice Department declined to comment.

The investigations followed a Trump executive order designating "antifa" a domestic terrorist organization. They led to the June criminal case against 15 protesters connected to Direct Action Minnesota, a loose coalition of organizers.

The records allege major groups were connected to the conspiracy, including the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the Democratic Socialists of America and Showing Up for Racial Justice. None of those organizations has been charged with any crime.

DHS obtained financial records of unions and nonprofits as part of a "domestic terrorist financing" inquiry, using administrative subpoenas to get wire transfer records for SEIU and requesting Federal Reserve Bank of New York data on the Communications Workers of America. DHS also obtained financial records tied to the Sunrise Movement.

Undercover agents posed as activists at multiple events, according to the reports, including a Sunrise Movement training at a Minneapolis library, a Signal group used by activists, a virtual meeting at Hunter College, and a church training where an agent participated in boxing practice while secretly recording audio. At one event, agents recorded license plate numbers of attendees, and when asked directly if they were ICE, an agent falsely denied it.

Civil rights groups say the records support concerns that the federal government has been criminalizing lawful protest activity under the guise of targeting domestic terrorism.