Court filings describe ICE surveillance of Minnesota activists
Original title: ICE Is Running One of the Largest Anti-Left Surveillance Operations in US History
Defense lawyers say HSI used undercovers, drones, and intercepted Signal chats in the Minnesota 15 case.
Attorneys for 15 Minnesota residents facing federal conspiracy charges say discovery shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement ran a broad surveillance effort against left-wing movements. Records cited include reports, transcripts, intercepted Signal chats, photographs, and database queries tied to Project Whipple Shield and Operation Puppet Master under National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. Prosecutors say Twin Cities monitoring of DHS agents was a criminal conspiracy; defense lawyers dispute that the charges match the alleged conduct. Former officials told WIRED the case likely sits inside a wider operation.
Unconfirmed: The full scope of investigations authorized by NSPM 7 is unknown, and comparisons to COINTELPRO are attorneys’ and former officials’ characterizations.
- Operation Keyhole, started in 2008, funded undercover work across several Midwest states.
- As of June 2026, Keyhole underwrote six active investigations, including Project Whipple Shield.
- More than 120 HSI agents, including 11 undercovers, were assigned to the case.
- Undercovers joined trainings, marches, meetings, and activist Signal chats, the filings say.
- Techniques cited include Reaper drones and tools usually used in terrorism and money-laundering probes.
- Products
- Signal
- Countries
- United States
From the original article
8 min read at wired.com
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is engaged in far-reaching spying against left-wing activists that rivals the FBI and CIA crackdowns on the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.
By Ali Winston · wired.com
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