MN protest calls to end state investments in Palantir, used in Trump’s Operation Metro Surge
Minneapolis, MN- August 26, 50 protesters rallied to demand an end to Palantir’s catastrophic violence in Gaza and terror campaign here in the United States. The action included three banners on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, which connects Loring Park to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden over Interstate-94. The banners read, “MN money funds AI weapons: divest MN from Palantir,” “Divest Minnesota from apartheid Israel! No tax $$$ for occupation” and “Divest MN from Palantir! Israel and Palantir out of Palestine!”
Organizers explained how Palantir has a long, dark history, made worse under the Trump administration. Founded 23 years ago during the so-called War on Terror, the company marketed itself as a software start-up. “Palantir isn’t just another technology company sitting in an investment portfolio,” said Alissa Washington from Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN (WIAOFC-MN).
According to Vincent O’Connor from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), Palantir is a “tool used to commit countless crimes against humanity with the funding and support of the U.S. military and a plethora of agencies like the CIA and the FBI that have an interest in surveilling and controlling entire populations.”
Miki Pensec from Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) pointed out that Palantir is not only a Republican problem, but in fact, “the first Palantir contracts were signed under Obama.”
Organizers highlighted U.S. regime change plots around the world, intensified with Trump in office, in support of its imperialist intentions. O’Connor said that Palantir allows the United States government to “commit this violence more quickly and more efficiently, or, in other words, on a larger scale than ever.”
It’s not just the U.S. government that uses this technology, but also the Israeli government. According to Nadiyah Salawdeh of U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), in 2024, “Palantir entered into a ‘strategic partnership’ with Israel. This partnership has allowed the cowardly Israeli military to hide behind screens, remote controls, and AI models to commit genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.”
O’Connor added that the Israeli occupation forces “use Palantir to recommend bombing targets, generate kill lists, and even track Palestinians so they can bomb them when they’re in their homes with their families.”
“Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in February 2026 that Palantir’s ‘weapons software is in every combat situation I’m aware of’,” said Salawdeh. “It looks like double-tap strikes on hospitals. It looks like hundreds of bullets fired at Hind Rajab. It looks like hundreds of thousands of dead kids. It looks like mass murder and displacement in Lebanon.”
Salawdeh continued, “What we have allowed to happen to Palestinians has come back to roost. These same technologies that have been tested on Palestinians for over a decade are being deployed in our communities.”
Within the U.S., Palantir is an integral tool used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In Minnesota, Palantir’s AI surveillance technology reportedly was used directly during Operation Metro Surge. O’Connor said this allowed for “racist policing and mass deportations” by thousands of agents who were “brutalizing, killing, and abducting our own community members.”
Pensec explained how during Operation Metro Surge, “ICE agents photographed MIRAC members, observers, and ordinary bystanders, called them out by name and told them they knew where they lived.” This was likely aided by Palantir’s technology.
Activists drew attention to the fact that the Minnesota State Board of Investment still has $57 million invested in Palantir. “Minnesota cannot claim to protect immigrant communities and civil liberties while our public money is invested in infrastructure being used to surveil and target people,” said Washington.
The organizers spoke to an upsurge of protest against Palantir around the country and called on the community to rise up and demand accountability and justice. “We are tired of politicians creating another advisory board, another task force, another committee that can make recommendations and then be ignored,” Washington added.
Pensec concluded, “They are starting with immigrants, with people of color, with trans people, with activists. But the endpoint is a profile on every one of us.”
The action included a rally at the nearby busy Hennepin/Lyndale Avenue interchange, where the banners were visible. The rally featured speakers from several groups, including the US Palestinian Community Network, Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN, Minnesota Anti-War Committee, MN 50501, and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.
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