Federal agents initiated a broad undercover surveillance operation earlier this year in Minneapolis, targeting progressive organizations, labor unions, and other groups that protested the city's immigration crackdown. The operation, codenamed Operation Puppet Master, aimed to identify a network of individuals authorities described as conspirators assisting "violent opportunists and agitators."
The U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota had charged 15 people in June with impeding federal officers. The charges stemmed from alleged actions, including throwing ice and establishing blockades, which prosecutors characterized as a conspiracy against the federal government.
Court documents filed Thursday, however, indicate that Department of Homeland Security officers infiltrated meetings held in churches, schools, and parks. These gatherings often involved discussions about constitutionally protected protests, according to the documents. An undercover officer identified as "UCA 9833" reported on a Jan. 31 meeting where members of the Sunrise Movement, a progressive climate group, discussed sit-ins, de-escalation tactics, and the presence of a police liaison during events. The agent noted that the organization focused on "peaceful" protests.
Defense attorney Kevin Riach, who requested the disclosure of more investigative materials, characterized the surveillance, including a later operation called Project Whipple Shield, as a "broad and irrational investigation" driven by politics rather than criminal conduct. Riach is representing one of the 15 individuals charged.
Documents detail agents secretly attending meetings, monitoring activist chat groups, and using license plate information to compile lists of attendees. A Homeland Security investigative branch presentation, titled "The Conspiracy," depicted 18 organizations, ranging from a local bicycle repair collective to the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation.
The government also accessed financial records for groups including the Sunrise Movement, the Service Employees International Union, and the Communications Workers of America. A request from the Department of Homeland Security to FedWire, a U.S. Federal Reserve money transfer system, warned against disclosing the summons for an indefinite period.
Critics expressed concern over the surveillance. Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at UCLA School of Law, stated that such operations could deter individuals from expressing their beliefs, suggesting a "fear of that creeping police state."
Labor unions and activist groups condemned the operation. Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America, said his union had become a target of a "corrupt administration that weaponizes the legal process against law-abiding Americans exercising our Constitutional rights." The AP News Guild, which represents many Associated Press employees, is affiliated with the CWA.
A coalition of Minneapolis-area civil society groups criticized the investigations, stating the government was "lashing out desperately in hopes of intimidating people and organizations that have shown the power of communities acting together," according to a statement distributed by Unidos MN, a local human rights group.
The Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation, described by the Department of Homeland Security as its "largest immigration enforcement operation ever," deployed approximately 3,000 federal officers to the area for about three months starting in late last year. This operation resulted in thousands of arrests and significant public protests.