Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced charges against 15 people who are accused of impeding federal agents during the Trump administration鈥檚 in Minnesota earlier this year.
The investigation targeted two 鈥淢inneapolis-based antifa groups鈥� whose members were trained in 鈥渟urveillance, operational planning and rapid mobilization against law enforcement,” Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen said at a press conference.
The charges come as the Trump administration has on 鈥渁ntifa,鈥� an umbrella term for a diffuse movement of militant left-wing activists, which President Donald Trump has described as a domestic terror group.
Rosen said some of those arrested identified as 鈥渁ntifa,鈥� while deploying a range of tactics to disrupt the immigration crackdown, such as 鈥渟talking鈥� federal agents and using blocks of ice to slow their convoys. He declined to say whether any federal agents were injured as a result of their actions.
鈥淲hether or not they actually, at the end of the day, cause bodily harm is not the measure of whether or not they committed a serious federal crime,鈥� Rosen told reporters.
Twelve people were arrested Tuesday, two remain at large and one is already in custody, Rosen added. The names and specific charges of those arrested were not immediately available.
The charges come months after the administration’s 鈥淥peration Metro Surge” brought , setting off mass protests and leading to the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens.
During the surge, convoys of agents in unmarked SUVs traveled through neighborhoods, at times banging down doors, waiting outside schools and demanding residents produce proof of citizenship.
A of outraged Minnesotans 鈥� primarily organized through anonymous neighborhood messaging threads 鈥� quickly formed, with ordinary citizens and activists using whistles and car horns to call attention to the masked, heavily armed agents.
At the time, border czar Tom Homan indicated that federal authorities were probing 鈥渢he organization and funding of the attacks on ICE.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檒l be held accountable,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ustice is coming.鈥�
Last September, Trump signed an order antifa as a domestic terror organization and directing federal agencies to 鈥渋nvestigate, disrupt, and dismantle鈥� its affiliates and funders.
Democrats and several First Amendment groups have raised issue with the designation. While the federal government may designate foreign terror groups, there is no formal mechanism to apply the same label to domestic groups.
Trump has the term against a range of political opponents, including peaceful protesters without anarchist-leanings.
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