Department of Homeland Security agents infiltrated a gathering of activists in Minneapolis, and upon learning the group planned to protest using peaceful methods, suggested they could hook them up with tools for more violent methods, according to investigation documents filed earlier this month.
The documents were obtained and published to X by Daniel Boguslaw, an investigative reporter for The Intercept. The agents were targeting a meeting of the Sunrise Movement, a group that was founded to lobby for climate action but has since spread out into other left-wing issues.
"During the meeting, they discussed events such as the 'Hilton Wide Awake' protests that targeted hotels known to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents within the Twin Cities area," stated the Homeland Security Investigations report. "The meeting provided additional history on 'sit-ins' and various protest techniques that had worked in the past."
As the meeting went on, said the report, "it was made clear that the Sunrise Movement organization focused on 'peaceful' protests." However, one agent then "spoke to [redacted] privately and informed him that he works construction and could build items that might assist other groups with more 'direct-action' protests" and further said "that going to jail did not bother him."
The report did not say the unnamed activist agreed to escalate the tactics, but merely "acknowledged" the comments and saved the undercover agent's phone number.
"Prior to leaving the meeting, UCA 9833 was provided with a QR code that allowed him/her to sign up for a group chat that would alert him/her to other future events," said the report. The undercover agent then "learned that another meeting sponsored by the Sunrise Movement organization was to be held on February 2, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Public Library located at 300 [redacted]."
In recent months, key figures in President Donald Trump's orbit have pushed hard for new policies to label left-wing protest groups as terrorist organizations.