By Madison McVan | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
Did you participate in protests outside the Whipple Federal Building during Operation Metro Surge or attend an organizing meeting ahead of the Jan. 23 general strike? Did you ever get together with your neighbors at a local church to figure out how to deliver food and supplies to immigrants in hiding? Are you part of an organization like the Minnesota chapter of 50501, which spearheaded the “No Kings” rallies across the county?
If so, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may have a file on you — your name and address, your license plate and vehicle information, the names of your family members and employer, and other information gathered from your social media presence.
Documents detailing the Trump administration’s vast surveillance apparatus were included in a court filing Thursday in the case of 15 Minnesotans charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal agent. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.
While presenting its case to the grand jury, the Department of Justice alleged that a wide range of organizations were involved in the plot, including ICE-tracking group Monarca, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, the progressive 50501 movement, the Democratic Socialists of America and even the Grease Pit, a volunteer-run bike shop in south Minneapolis.
I’ll link the full story below, but first I want to mention a few points of interest from the undercover agents’ reports that didn’t make it into the initial piece.
Undercover agents’ reports detail an onboarding for Whipple Watch volunteers, who document the comings and goings of federal agents and vehicles from the building; a planning meeting for the Jan. 23 general strike; and an “upstander” legal observer training. Agents were looking for signs that the activists were planning crimes but generally failed to find any evidence of that, even after an agent offered to help with construction for “direct actions.” Agents did note when people joked about violence towards agents — one woman “wished someone would attack ICE agents with a shovel,” apparently in reference to agents’ false claims that they’d been attacked before shooting Julio Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis.
The topic of “op-sec,” operational security, was hotly debated during Operation Metro Surge. On that front, I’ll share this piece of information for your consideration: An undercover agent attended an “art club” meeting at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Roseville, hosted by a group called “Twin Cities Direct Action.” Leaders of the meeting instructed attendees to turn off their phone’s Bluetooth and place the device in airplane mode. As the undercover agents observed the meeting, other agents outside scanned the license plates of attendees and matched the names on the registration with photos they found online. A screenshot of a Signal message listing the attendees was included in the case file.
One agent wore a wire to a meeting of “Left Jab,” described by its leader Cameron Kennedy — who was later indicted in the conspiracy case — as an “anti-racist, queer friendly, always free and beginner oriented” mixed martial arts class. The investigative file notes that “due to the physicality of the event” the undercover agent’s “concealed body-worn audio device erroneously fell to the floor of the gymnasium near the end of the training.” The agent realized it was missing as she left the event, and was apparently able to retrieve it from the gym without issue.
The defense attorney representing defendant Issac Sant, who filed the motion, is requesting troves of additional documents about the surveillance efforts undertaken by DHS, so there may be more information to come.
To the rest of the news:
Dozens of people gather to show solidarity with the 15 Minnesotans indicted for conspiracy to impede or injure a federal agent outside of the Diane E. Murphy federal courthouse during their arraignment hearing Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Madison McVan
Here’s the full story based on the documents filed in federal court, including a response from many of the groups mentioned in the filings.
“Minnesotans will not be intimidated or divided by sham accusations or investigations of some of the countless groups and community members who organized, acted, and stood up together to protect their neighbors during Operation Metro Surge,” the statement reads.
By J. Patrick Coolican
Editor J. Patrick Coolican had an immediate reaction to the news of the spying: “This is just like the Church Committee report.” (The Church Committee report was produced in 1976 by bipartisan members of Congress and details the extent to which the FBI spied on Americans in the preceding decades. Don’t ask how many Gen Z staff members had to Google that.)
“We don’t yet know the extent of this despotic activity by the Trump administration, but Thursday’s filing makes clear that if and when the honorable people ever again fill the halls of Congress, we’ll need yet another Church Committee for our amnesiac nation,” Coolican concludes.
By Cole Hanson
Cole Hanson is back with another tale of mismanagement and injustice at a manufactured home park, this time featuring Katherine Kilbride, who lives at Big Lake Estates in Big Lake.
When an unlicensed plumber improperly installed water submeters on the properties, residents were left on the hook when the pipes froze and burst, even though the management company hadn’t pulled permits for the project.
IN OTHER NEWS
Little thefts, big charges: Trump’s Justice Dept. targets lesser fraud | New York Times gift link
American anxiety about AI is becoming a political force in the midterms | Washington Post gift link
OH BY THE WAY
Looking forward to catching comedian Cameron Esposito this weekend. She added two late-night shows to her slate in Minneapolis this weekend after the initial Friday and Saturday dates sold out. Four standup shows in 36 hours is an impressive feat.
And, a song for your Friday, from the one and only Voice. Have a great day!
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