A federal grand jury in the District of Minnesota returned an eight-count indictment on June 11, 2026, charging 15 members and associates of Direct Action Minnesota, known as DAMN, with crimes tied to alleged efforts to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis [1]. The indictment was unsealed June 16, and federal authorities arrested 12 of the 15 defendants in a coordinated operation the same day [1]. Charges include conspiracy to impede a federal officer, assault on a federal officer, interstate stalking, destruction of government property, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence [1][2].
Prosecutors allege the defendants coordinated actions designed to interfere with ICE operations at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis during a targeted immigration enforcement initiative called Operation Metro Surge [1]. The government describes DAMN as an Antifa-affiliated group and contends the alleged conduct extended beyond spontaneous protest into organized, pre-planned obstruction of federal law enforcement [2][3]. The indictment names, among others, Daniel Rosen, Kyle Wagner, William Morgan, Isaac Auman Sant, Natasha Rakotz, and Cameron Kennedy as defendants [1]. The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations and Joint Task Force Vanguard, a multi-agency unit supporting immigration enforcement efforts in the region [1].
The statutory charges carry significant sentencing exposure. Conspiracy to impede a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 372 and assault on a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 111 each carry the potential for substantial prison terms, while solicitation to commit a crime of violence adds a separate layer of federal jeopardy [1]. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota is prosecuting the case, coordinating with DOJ Main Justice [1]. Defense attorneys are expected to contest both the factual characterization of the alleged conduct and the legal sufficiency of applying stalking and solicitation statutes to what they will likely frame as protected political activity [3].
The case lands in an already charged legal landscape. Civil liberties organizations have raised First Amendment concerns about the government's use of "Antifa" as an organizational label, arguing the term describes a loosely defined political tendency rather than a formal group with membership and chain of command [3]. The indictment tests the outer limits of federal conspiracy and obstruction statutes as applied to protest-adjacent conduct, a question courts have not resolved with consistency. Defendants not yet in custody remain subject to arrest, and initial appearances for those arrested were expected to proceed in federal court in Minneapolis in the days following unsealing [1][2].