Fifteen protesters in Minnesota face a series of charges including conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers, assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced Tuesday.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The charges stem from demonstrations against the Trump administration’s mass immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis and the surrounding area earlier this year.The protesters are accused of using multiple tactics over two days of demonstrations to disrupt federal immigration enforcement, including using vehicles and blocks of ice to block or slow down agents’ vehicles outside a federal detention center, and using homemade shields made of plastic, wood and metal to “physically resist the efforts of law enforcement,” Minnesota U.S.
Attorney Daniel Rosen said at a news conference.“They all joined an agreement, a conspiracy to interfere with lawful immigration enforcement operations.
The conspiracy was not to interfere by their voice, but to do it by force, that’s a crime, and it will not be tolerated in the United States,” Rosen said.Twelve of those charged were arrested during an operation Tuesday morning, one was in custody and two remain at large, he said.Rosen declined to say whether any officers were injured during the demonstrations on Jan.23 and March 1.
“Whether 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,” Rosen said.Rosen also said the protesters followed and surveilled law enforcement officers.Rosen said the defendants were associated with two “Minneapolis-based antifa groups,” and showed a video in which one defendant claimed the term.“Antifa,” short for “anti-fascist,” is an umbrella term for loosely affiliated far-left-activists and groups.It resembles more an ideology th...