The United States Department of Justice has announced charges against members and associates of two Minneapolis-based groups it describes as Antifa, accusing them of violently opposing the enforcement of federal law in Minnesota. A U.S. Attorney laid out the case at a press conference, framing it as part of a broader federal effort against organized, lawless behavior aimed at disrupting federal operations.
In total, 15 defendants were charged. According to officials, agents of Homeland Security Investigations carried out a coordinated operation that ended in the arrest of 12 of them, while one defendant was already in custody on other federal charges and two remained fugitives at large.
The defendants, described as members and associates of a group called Direct Action Minnesota, face charges including conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property.
The U.S. Attorney stressed that the defendants were charged for what they did rather than for what they said, arguing they had joined a conspiracy to interfere with lawful immigration enforcement not by their voice but by force. Officials said they would continue to distinguish between lawful protest and criminal conduct.
According to the authorities, Direct Action Minnesota is made up of subgroups, among them the Black Hat Workers Collective, described as an Antifa affinity group that promotes militant tactics and violence. Officials pointed to social media material, including a leader who openly identified himself as Antifa and a defendant who wrote that they needed to become ungovernable.
Prosecutors said that during what they called Operation Metro Surge, the group infiltrated and exploited lawful protests to carry out unlawful actions, holding regular meetings and practicing what it referred to as operational security. They cited organized actions against federal and local law enforcement on January 23 and March 1 of this year.
On those days, according to the indictment, members deployed what they called hard and soft blockades against federal officers and county deputies, shutting down operations at a federal building near the Minneapolis St. Paul airport. The hard blockade team was said to have used vehicles, overturned trailers and ice blocks thrown at law enforcement, while a soft blockade team used homemade shields to resist officers.
Officials also described what they called commuting tactics, in which members allegedly identified, followed, surveilled and harassed officers, in some cases following them from the federal building to their homes. One defendant was said to have followed federal officers across the state line into Wisconsin. The U.S. Attorney said such actions against law enforcement were criminal and would be met with what he called swift justice.