Documents show undercover DHS presence at Ann Arbor ICE resistance event in April

The event, titled “Breaking the ICE: Lessons from the Resistance in Minnesota,” was held on April 8 at the Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor as part of a national tour of self-described anarchists who participated in ICE resistance in the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge. 

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Two days before the event, according to a Report Of Investigation, HSI investigators from St. Paul, Minn. contacted HSI agents based out of the Detroit Metro Airport to ask for local support in having an undercover operative attend the Ann Arbor event. The investigators said the event “is believed to be linked to the ongoing investigation of suspects involved in violations of 18 USC 111 and 18 USC 372,” federal statutes that prevent assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers and conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, respectively. The Detroit-based agents were asked to attend the event with recording devices to “collect evidence in support of potential federal criminal charges.”

The report says that the undercover agent attended the event, which brought approximately 75 to 100 attendees, and spoke to a number of those in the audience, including two members of the Zion Lutheran Church. All names of attendees listed in the records were redacted. It also details that the undercover agent took pamphlets, stickers and other materials being distributed at the event and provided them to HSI special agents. 

The documents broadly show that Homeland Security investigators secretly recorded conversations, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records for labor unions and progressive groups as part of a wide-ranging surveillance effort during Operation Metro Surge, primarily for groups based in Minnesota, the Minnesota Reformer reported. 

However, the surveillance programs, dubbed “Operation Puppet Master” and “Operation Whipple Shield” by DHS, were not limited to just Minnesota — for example, along with the Ann Arbor event, the records describe undercover activity at an event at Hunter College in New York.

The court filing also details that federal agents “surveilled peaceful protests that had no connection to Operation Metro Surge,” including a No Kings protest and undercover agent presence at a “Stop the War on Iran!” protest, both in Minnesota.

The documents were filed by a defense attorney in the federal case against 15 Minnesotans accused of conspiracy to impede or injure a federal agent.

One presenter at the Ann Arbor event was listed in the report as Callum Robinet, one of the 15 people accused in the federal indictment.

The Ann Arbor event is the only instance of federal undercover action under these operations in Michigan reported in these court documents. However, the court filing suggests that the documents may not represent the full scope of surveillance — including the fact that there are some undercover agents, or UCAs, who have minimal reports of investigation attributed to them, which “suggests additional surveillance activities were being conducted and documented that have not been produced.”

“Given the number of UCAs, however, and the significant date gaps in these summaries, it appears that there is additional surveillance and covert activity during that time period that has not been disclosed,” the document states.