What's in the indictment against 15 anti-ICE protesters

Good morning, Reformers. 

U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen began the news conference on Tuesday announcing charges against 15 anti-ICE protesters by referencing what he said following the guilty plea of Vance Boelter last week for killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman. 

“I said that political violence is a national scourge in our times. Today, I can disclose to you further actions by federal law enforcement in combating that violence,” Rosen said. 

The implication is that these defendants are as dangerous, and their crimes as heinous, as the man who murdered two people and shot two others as he worked his way through a list of dozens of targets. 

And yet, when reporters asked Rosen how many federal agents were injured by these 15 defendants, Rosen wouldn’t say. 

“Are you saying no officers were injured?” our Madison McVan asked. 

“I”m not saying that,” Rosen replied. 

The federal indictment does contain evidence of violent language. Rosen played a video of one defendant, Kyle Wagner, saying, “Get your f*cking guns and stop these f*cking people” after the killing of Alex Pretti. Wagner was already in custody based on previous charges of cyberstalking and threatening federal agents. 

The indictment also alleges some of the defendants threw ice blocks at law enforcement, knocked the notes out of an agent’s hand and set up barricades to block ICE activity. 

But much of 94-page indictment was filled with boring messages about going to meetings, like:  

“On or about February 16, 2026, at approximately 12:55 p.m., Van de Water David sent a message in the 'whip 03/01” Signal chat group, stating, “There is a meeting with folks form Week of Action coalition organizing on Tuesday at 5pm. Would anyone else like to join Ike [Sant] and myself at the meeting?” Misterek responded at approximately 8:14 p.m., “I will try to be there.” 

One thing that struck me as significant about the indictment was the frustration that some of these self-described militaristic protesters expressed in their Signal chats with the mainstream resistance “libs” for being too peaceful and unwilling to physically confront federal agents. 

In his piece about the resistance after the feds announced the wind-down in February, our editor Patrick Coolican argued that the nonviolent ethos that pervaded the movement was a core part of its power: “Bullhorns, whistles, chants, shouts, songs, mockery and marches were more effective than violence could ever be.”

Meanwhile, recent New York Times reporting has given us added details about the Trump administration’s deliberations on invoking the Insurrection Act, claiming widespread violence. 

Read Madi’s story. 

By Kevin Hardy

The days of ground beef and chicken legs are long gone at the Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry just outside of St. Louis. The nonprofit has swapped out those staple proteins for cheaper ground chicken and hot dogs as it faces higher food costs and surging demand.

“We have to adapt just like everybody else,” Executive Director Angela Gabel said about rising grocery prices.

Families are facing rising grocery prices at the same time that many of the most vulnerable are losing access to the nation’s largest food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. More than 4 million Americans lost SNAP benefits between February 2025 and this February, according to analyses of the most recent federal data. 

Congratulations to our colleague Madison McVan, who was named 2026 Young Journalist of the Year by the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. It’s a huge honor and well-deserved.  

We also won some first, second and third place awards for our work. Thank you all for your continued readership and support. 

Congratulations too to Joe Spear, retired editor of the Mankato Free Press, for his Lifetime Achievement Award after 40 years in journalism — a length of tenure all of us hope to achieve. 

The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists also recognized independent journalist Georgia Fort with the Peter S. Popovich Award, which goes to a person or organization that exemplifies the fight to uphold the First Amendment (the Reformer staff won it last year). 

Fort was arrested at her home by federal agents earlier this year for filming a protest at Cities Church and now faces federal charges along with journalist Don Lemon and his producer. 

In her remarks, Fort noted that attacks on the press are on the rise and threaten independent journalists like her as well as those at large legacy institutions like The Washington Post reporter whose home was raided by the FBI. 

I wasn’t taking notes at the awards banquet last night, so I’ll instead quote from Fort’s recent piece in The New York Times:  

“A society that claims to value our democracy cannot criminalize those who document threats to democracy. Charges against journalists for doing their jobs must be dropped. Physical harm and intimidation against reporters must carry consequences. If we as a nation fail to defend that principle now, clearly and without compromise, we may soon find that there is nothing left to defend.”

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