Right-leaning groups say MN 15 prosecution violates free speech of anti-ICE activists
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Civil liberties and conservative legal groups are calling on the federal judge overseeing the conspiracy case against Minnesota activists to order the government to turn over documents that could show prosecutors targeted political enemies or tried to suppress free speech rights.
The groups say that a presidential memorandum issued last September designates First Amendment-protected beliefs like “anti-fascism, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity" as signs of “domestic terrorism.” The memo “directs the federal government to target, investigate and prosecute entities with disfavored political beliefs,” according to the groups’ amicus briefing filed on Tuesday.
The groups argue that the government’s extensive surveillance of nonviolent activists in Minnesota violates the First Amendment.
“The administration outlined a plan linking viewpoints it doesn't like with domestic terrorism and a plan to investigate people with those viewpoints,” said Adam Goldstein, an attorney with The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan organization that advocates for free speech and joined the brief. “That is, functionally, a disincentive to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.”
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Federal prosecutors charged the so-called Minnesota 15 with conspiracy in June for allegedly attempting to impede or injure federal law enforcement officers during the ICE surge into Minnesota this winter.
The civil liberties and conservative legal groups are backing a motion filed by defendants that ask U.S. Magistrate Judge David Schultz to order the government to turn over any correspondence between Trump administration officials, prosecutors or agents about what led to the start of the conspiracy investigation, as well as any communications that show political motives by administration officials, prosecutors or federal agents.
Defendants also want investigative reports that weren’t included in earlier evidence provided by the government and more information about the scope of the government’s operations.
Federal prosecutors have argued that they shouldn’t have to turn over the additional documents due to the “presumption of regularity,” where courts usually give deference to prosecutors’ charging decisions. The government also argued, among other things, that the 15 defendants haven’t shown that the documents they’re requesting are necessary for their defense preparations.
The right-leaning Cato Institute and Society for the Rule of Law also joined the amicus brief. The groups argue that President Donald Trump’s administration has a pattern of targeting First Amendment expressions by protesters, the press and others.
“The rule of law demands that investigations be based on evidence of wrongdoing, not ideology, and that Americans of every political persuasion can exercise their constitutional rights without fear of government retaliation," according to a statement from a spokesperson at the Society for the Rule of Law.
The defendants in this conspiracy case deserve to find out what role political animus played in their prosecutions, said Katie Schwartzmann, special counsel with the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy, who helped file the amicus brief.
“Particularly given the Trump administration’s pattern of retaliating against political opponents and suppressing dissent, the individuals charged with crimes in Minneapolis should be able to learn about the scope of this investigation as an integral part of the defense of their cases,” Schwartzmann said in a statement to MPR News.
A hearing is scheduled in federal court on Thursday in Minneapolis to consider the defendants’ motion for additional discovery.
The president’s executive memo was revealed to form the basis of U.S. Department of Homeland Security activities disclosed in recent court filings in the Minnesota 15 case as “Operation Keyhole,” Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield.” Documents show that federal agents conducted extensive surveillance of activists and protesters earlier this year following the ICE surge into the state.
During the operations, the federal government also subpoenaed financial records from nonprofit groups and labor unions that officials saw as supportive of anti-ICE protests.
Community groups and elected officials have responded with outrage to revelations that undercover officers infiltrated anti-ICE meetings online and in person, including at churches, schools and libraries.
One of the Minneapolis churches surveilled by federal agents is protected by a federal injunction barring immigration enforcement activities on their property, which will be the subject of a hearing in Massachusetts next week where the government is tasked with defending its actions at the church.
