Fourteen Anti-ICE Activists Plead Not Guilty as Prosecutors Reveal 20 Terabytes of Evidence
Contributing writer Ella Stern reports on the July 1 arraignment of 14 activists federally charged over resistance to Operation Metro Surge, where all defendants pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. U.S. District Judge David Schultz rejected prosecutors' request for a 90-day extension to process 20 terabytes of evidence and called their proposed protective order "overbroad," while supporters rallied outside the courthouse, framing the charges as an act of intimidation.
Fourteen activists federally charged last month for their anti-ICE activities pleaded not guilty on July 1 in an arraignment at the United States District Court in Minneapolis.
All defendants faced one charge of conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. Defendant Beth Morgan was also charged with interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property. Defendants Isaac Sant and Natasha Rakotz faced charges of interstate stalking and assault on a federal officer, respectively.
The charges stem from actions the defendants took to resist Operation Metro Surge. A 94-page indictment enumerates the defendants’ anti-ICE activities, including working with rapid response networks, tracking vehicles coming from the Whipple Building, using direct actions and blockades to prevent federal immigration enforcement, and promoting direct actions.
The indictment names community organizations that the defendants participated in and links those groups to antifascist, or “Antifa,” groups. It also includes granular information about the defendants, such as Signal messages they sent and the exact times of day they were present at direct actions, spanning from January to June of this year.
The 15th defendant, Kyle Wagner, remains in custody for previous federal charges, so he was not present at the arraignment.
After the pleas, U.S. District Judge David Schultz questioned Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sommer Honeycutt about the status of the case and about the 20 terabytes of data that Honeycutt said federal prosecutors possess. Chats on the messaging app Signal comprise 15 to 16 of those terabytes; the data also include footage from drones and body cameras.
Honeycutt sought a protective order, which would prevent the disclosure of certain information related to the case. She said she hoped to redact witnesses’ and law enforcement officials’ addresses and birthdates, as well as identifying information about uncharged co-conspirators.
As presented, the request was “overbroad,” Schultz said.
Honeycutt and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristian Weir also asked for a 90-day extension to the deadline for processing the data. Weir said that it takes several days to copy even two to three terabytes of data onto a drive. When questioned by Schultz, the two U.S. attorneys said they have had the data since the end of May, and have organized it dutifully in anticipation of releasing discovery.
The defense “cannot think about how to respond to the case before we see the discovery,” trial lawyer Surya Saxena, who was representing defendant Nat Kim, said.
Schultz said he would not grant the 90-day extension at that time. He gave the parties until July 10 to meet and confer about a protective order, and until July 17 to agree upon a new order or submit competing proposals.
Across the street from the courthouse, a crowd rallied in support of the defendants. At the union-led rally, where almost half of the defendants are union members, defendant Treasure Thoreson decried the charges as “all about intimidation and repression.”
Monique Cullars-Doty, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and one of 39 people federally charged for a January anti-ICE protest in St. Paul’s Cities Church, echoed Thoreson’s sentiment.
“While we stand here, we know that the true reason why we’re here is because of white supremacy and what is happening in Donald Trump’s administration,” Cullars-Doty said. “[We are protesting] the same people who want to continue to call out, ‘oh, Antifa, Antifa, Antifa,’ because the only people that have a problem with an anti-fascist is a fascist.”
The protest remained free of interactions between protesters and federal officers, a contrast to the June 16 rally in support of the 15 defendants, when U.S. Marshals launched tear gas and pepper oil into the crowd. That rally, at the United States District Court in St. Paul, took place hours after the charges against the 15 activists were announced.
Ella Stern is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. She welcomes reader responses at erstern10@gmail.com.