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Fifteen members of a Minnesota-based Antifa group were indicted on Tuesday by the Department of Justice. These defendants were part of a group called Twin Cities Direct Action, which the DOJ said later changed its name to DAMN, standing for Direct Action Minnesota. This was a group whose sole purpose was to organize "direct action against federal law and immigration enforcement." This group made their business the identification and harassment of federal immigration and law enforcement officers "in order to harass and prevent officers from performing their official duties."
These militants organized violent protests across Minneapolis to stop federal immigration enforcement. Two people who were caught up in these organized, direct actions, participating in the obstruction of law enforcement, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were killed by officers who were being prevented from doing their jobs. The protests in Minneapolis were not a grassroots, peaceful protest, but organized, violent undertakings intended to cause chaos and harm.
The DOJ states that the purpose of the conspiracy undertaken by DAMN and their affiliates was in "preventing the enforcement of federal immigration law by force, intimidation, and threats; opposing the authority of the United States government; preventing, hindering, or delaying by force the execution of the laws governing the identification, detention, and removal of non-citizens, to include the Immigration and Nationality Act; and preventing, impeding, and interfering federal law enforcement from discharging their duties, including enforcement of federal immigration law by force, intimidation, and threats."
The indictment details how these people went about what the DOJ is calling a conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. They coordinated rapid response groups using social media, group texts, and encrypted messaging apps to create blockades at the Whipple Building and around Minneapolis. After executing their direct actions, they would hold "after action" assessments to determine "best practices" and then do it again. They staged practice runs, conducted trainings, engaged in counter-surveillance tactics, utilized "operational security," and trained groups nationwide on how to obstruct law enforcement and prevent the carrying out of immigration law.
"The charges and arrests reflect a broad federal effort to address organized lawless behavior, which seeks to disrupt the execution of federal law, endanger law enforcement, and, importantly, endanger the very communities that these defendants falsely claim to be protecting," said US Attorney for Minneapolis Daniel Rosen.
More Antifa militants gathered outside the Minneapolis courthouse to support their comrades, while still others across the country, such as the People's City Council in LA, said "this indictment is important to read for everyone engaged in political action right now. You should be discussing this with your comrades and organizing groups."
In other words, Antifa isn't going to let this DOJ stop them, this DOJ is going to keep bringing charges, and hopefully the networks that are bringing chaos to our cities under the guise of grassroots protests will be exposed for the frauds they are.
Libby