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A new legal filing in Minnesota federal court accuses the U.S. government of opening unwarranted investigations into multiple left-leaning groups as residents were protesting against the deadly immigration raids in the state last winter.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), handled the investigations, which included the use of undercover agents to infiltrate these groups. The operation began just four days after federal agents shot and killed protester Alex Pretti.
These agents spied on organizers and groups who met online, infiltrating Signal chat groups, for example. They also inserted themselves into public areas where these groups met in person, including parks, libraries, and even churches. Organizations surveilled included unions, socialist collectives, climate action groups, and others.
The evidence of these investigations — formally called “Operation Puppet Master” by the feds — was divulged in a filing by defense attorney Kevin Riach, who is representing a member of an organization called Direct Action Minnesota (DAMN).
In June, the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted 15 individuals involved in DAMN’s work for allegedly interfering with law enforcement last winter, describing the group as having “ties” to “antifa.” The organization’s primary aim was to alert people in nearby communities about federal immigration agents’ presence. Per the filing submitted by Riach to the federal court on Thursday, the Trump administration appears to allege that anyone connected to DAMN is part of a broader conspiracy, purportedly warranting their being spied on.
None of the organizations alleged to be connected to DAMN have been charged with any criminal activities.
According to the filing, groups that were targeted included the AFL-CIO, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the Communications Workers of America, the Sunrise Movement, Monarca, Veterans for Peace, and the Grease Pit bicycle repair shop, among others.
The filing also notes that, while federal agents “gathered information about Minnesotans from law enforcement databases and internet searches,” their “abuses did not stop there,” and that financial records were collected from groups through administrative subpoenas “with zero criminal predicate to do so.” Administrative subpoenas do not go through court requests but rather are handled by federal agencies themselves.
Federal agencies utilized Clearview AI, a facial recognition software, to create photo dossiers of individuals they were targeting, Riach’s filing states.
The filing also alleges that the feds were acting under an order signed by Trump last year, which directs agencies in the administration to target broadly defined left-leaning groups and individuals. The spying on these groups appears to have been mostly political, Riach laid out, noting that three years of financial records for many of these groups were sought after, a timeframe well before demonstrations against the federal presence in the Twin Cities had begun.
“These wild conspiracy allegations are born from the fantasies of political retribution that animate the Trump Administration,” the filing states.
After highlighting all of this information, obtained from documents uncovered through the discovery process for his client, Riach’s filing demands additional documents to be turned over — including “all reports related to surveillance” of groups and individuals, all of the Clearview AI reports that were created, internal communications relating to the operation, and communications relating to charging decisions.
Reacting to reporting of the surveillance operation, Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, decried the federal government’s clear infractions of privacy and speech/assembly rights.
“While federal agents repeatedly broke the law, ordinary people exercised their First Amendment rights to protect their neighbors,” Shiney-Ajay told The New York Times. “The Trump administration is now trying to intimidate individuals and organizations who opposed his agenda.”
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