The regime of United States President Donald Trump has announced criminal charges against 15 Minnesota activists described as members of antifa, the loose-knit “anti-fascist” organisation. At a news conference on Tuesday, US Attorney Daniel Rosen tied the charges to Trump’s directive last year to “counter domestic terrorism and organised political violence”.
The charges include conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers, solicitation to commit violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assaulting federal officers and the destruction of government property. Twelve of the 15 defendants were taken into custody on Tuesday morning, with two at large and one already detained.
According to Rosen, all defendants are connected to the activist group Direct Action Minnesota, formerly known as Twin Cities Direct Action. That group protested the hardline immigration crackdown that Trump authorised in Minnesota from December through February. The crackdown, known as Operation Metro Surge, was widely criticised for excessive violence and legally dubious tactics, including a policy of not seeking judicial warrants before entering private homes.
In January, two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot dead as part of the operation, prompting nationwide outrage. Democrats have framed the operation as a politically motivated action against left-leaning jurisdictions. “Operation Metro Surge was nothing but a show of force to intimidate states that voted against Trump,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wrote on Tuesday.
At Tuesday’s news briefing, Rosen sought to brush aside concerns that the latest charges could be seen as an attack against free-speech rights. “These defendants have been charged not for what they said, but for what they did,” Rosen said. However, reporters pressed Rosen on whether any federal officers were injured as a result of the actions attributed to the 15 defendants, with one questioning if Rosen was describing “thought crimes”. Rosen responded by saying the numbers of officers injured will “roll out in the course of the prosecution” and dismissed the question as irrelevant.
Since returning to the presidency in 2025, Trump has faced ongoing questions about whether he has used the Department of Justice to suppress free speech during his second term. In September, he issued an executive order designating antifa as a “domestic terrorist organisation”. Analysts have questioned the accuracy of this characterisation, noting that “antifa” is a broad label for a variety of movements.
Tuesday’s indictment, which stretches across 94 pages, seeks to present the 15 defendants as “antifa” agents committed to inciting violence against federal agents. It quotes one defendant as posting on Facebook, “YOU WILL NEVER WIN WITH NON-VIOLENCE ALONE.” The indictment describes defendants as maintaining databases of federal vehicles, training protesters to use shields, and organising blockades around ICE offices. Their aim, the indictment says, was to “forcibly challenge, block or stop immigration raids, detentions and deportations”.
Tuesday’s indictment is not the first time the Trump regime has attempted to prosecute protesters who denounced Operation Metro Surge. In late January, the Justice Department successfully sought a grand jury indictment against nine people, including journalist Don Lemon, after they attended a protest at a church. By February, 30 more people were added to that indictment. However, the Trump regime has faced setbacks, with some charges dismissed due to lack of evidence or false statements from federal officials.
Source: www.aljazeera.com