Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) and other organizations took part in an international “Purge Palantir” week of action September 26 to October 1. Led by the American Friends Service Committee, the week of action sought to pressure public institutions, universities, state pension investment entities, and hospital systems to end contracts with Palantir.

Activist groups and human rights organizations from the U.S., UK, Australia, South and Central America, and beyond organized to disrupt business as usual for Palantir Technologies.

As part of Purge Palantir actions, the AWC held a rally on September 26, “From Minnesota to Palestine: No Deadly Surveillance! Divest from Palantir!” in Martin Luther King Jr. Park during the well-attended Open Streets festival on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

The rally was co-hosted by Minnesota 50501 and endorsed by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), and others.

Earlier in the week, the AWC and other community members testified at the State Board of Investment (SBI) at its quarterly meeting on September 22, demanding it divest from Palantir as part of a broader longstanding call for divestment from companies that profit from Israel’s genocide and apartheid system.

The September 26 rally hosted speakers who addressed the many ways that Palantir weaponizes AI-powered tools for large-scale data collection and mass surveillance and violates human rights globally and locally. Speakers demanded the Minnesota SBI divest from Palantir.

AWC member Carter Steinhagen told the crowd, “The Minnesota State Board of Investment currently has $57 million invested in Palantir,” adding, “SBI chair Governor Walz has stated that ‘ICE operations are a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government’ – but [the governor] refuses to divest from Palantir.”

Another speaker highlighted the connection between deadly surveillance and kill-chain targeting in Palestine and the local impact of Palantir’s surveillance of Minneapolis citizens, observers and protesters, during Operation Metro Surge, allowing ICE agents to identify people by name and follow them home.

“Palantir created the ELITE facial recognition software system that allowed ICE agents to automatically obtain personal information of anyone that they can scan in public,” said Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee member Yann Chen. “If you were out in the cold this winter and you thought agents were taking photos of your face, know that they were definitely illegally collecting information and targeting us, the regular people that stood up in the face of tyranny.”

Chen added that Palnatir’s “ImmigrationOS is what all dystopian movies originate from – one database that can obtain passport records, Social Security records, IRS data, license plate information, biometric data, and even our utility bills. This is what Minnesota leaders refuse to stand up against.”

“It is heartening to see more and more folks starting to learn and speak out against what these AI-fueled surveillance technologies are doing to our communities here in Minnesota in particular. We've seen mass demonstrations against Flock cameras here and across the U.S. We've also recently had successful campaigns against Skydio drone contracts with Minneapolis and Saint Paul police departments, and growing coalitions to oppose data center construction plans,” said Khrys Wetzel of Women Against Military Madness.

“We are deeply concerned about Palantir’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and ICE violence here at home,” said rally emcee Ulysses Dolan of the AWC. “We have massive human rights concerns about this company. These investments are not only financially volatile, but Minnesotans do not want our tax dollars funding this dystopian violence. We demand that the SBI divest now!”

For information about the AWC and its calls for divestment, visit DivestMN.com.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palantir #Palestine #DivestMN #Skydio #Surveillance

St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, September 26, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and dozens of community members protested at the Governor’s Residence to demand that Tim Walz sign an executive order making Minnesota a sanctuary state. The rally also brought attention to there being only 100 days remaining of Walz’s term as governor, adding a sense of urgency to the call for Walz to address the demands.

Protesters raised that ICE is still violating the rights of Minnesotans and tearing families apart. One of the demands of MIRAC’s sanctuary state campaign is to ban on 287(g) agreements, which deputize local agencies to act as appendages of ICE, investing cops with federal immigration enforcement powers, which can include stopping, interrogating, arresting and transporting immigrants based purely on immigration status – or the perception of such.

“Tim Walz, we need a sanctuary state now!” stated Hazel Wilde from MIRAC “He has time to act and nothing to lose. He’s even equipped with a template to follow. Governors Healey and Sherill of Massachusetts and New Jersey have already enacted protections in their states. Minnesotans have consistently demonstrated our demands. It’s time to listen to your constituents!”

Jae Yates from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) called out the governor for trying to profit from Metro Surge, stating, “How morally bankrupt do you have to be to be talking about writing a book about the occupation, while your constituents are still suffering from it? How morally bankrupt do you have to be to hide in your mansion, while immigrant families who run the economy of the state; who are workers in every sector. Every single industry in this country is supported by immigrant labor. And yet, instead of caring about these people as human beings. Instead of saying ‘let me help your community,’ we are shutting down programs that are meant to help people recover; and then we’re hiding from our constituents who want something to be done? It’s shameful!”

This protest was part of a call to action from the Legalization 4 All Network in response to four instances of ICE violence in the past week: on September 17, Edgar Borromeo Cabrera-Gomez was run over by an ICE vehicle in Georgia, breaking his leg and spine; on September 18, Carlos Josue Marchena died in a Louisiana detention center after being denied access to diabetes medication; on September 20, Mario David Coronado Juárez was killed in a car accident while fleeing from ICE agents in Michigan; and on September 23, ICE agents in Texas shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez then took him into custody bleeding, with the bullet still in his body.

Alissa Washington, of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council, told the crowd, “Governor Walz, families need to know what you are going to do. When you are going to do it. And how you intend to protect people when ICE comes for them. We should not have to stand outside your residence to make the safety of our families a priority!”

The protest was also supported by Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, a faith-based organization.

After the speaker program concluded, protesters affixed signs that read “100 days left” and blue bunny hats to the fence in front of the mansion, representing Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy who was detained by ICE in Minnesota in January, and all children affected by federal immigration enforcement.

The organizers urged attendees to sign and share their petition for the sanctuary state campaign that can be found online at miracmn.com.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #TimWalz #MIRAC #SanctuaryState

Saint Paul, MN – Dozens gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday, September 22 to unveil the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt. More than 150 people labored over six months to sew together 12,500 quilt squares – each square representing a Minnesota immigrant taken by ICE from the start of the second Trump term to the end of Operation Metro Surge.

The organizers behind the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt Project were joined by Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and 50 community members in the capitol rotunda, where the quilt was unfurled. There was a moment of silence as the weight of the quilt and the lives it symbolized were impressed upon the crowd.

Then, the quilt was carried outside and overlaid on the steps of the State Capitol Mall, where it served as a solemn backdrop for the speeches during the “No More Stolen Neighbors” rally.

The first speaker was one of the organizers of the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt Project and a member of MIRAC, Owen Lubozynski. He explained how the hidden violence of post-Surge DHS activity motivated him to create the Stolen Neighbors Quilt Project, launched in April with assistance from fellow Twin Cities activist Melissa Greene.

He also remarked on the extent of the community effort that went into the project. Neighbors across the country contributed portions of the quilt. Local sewing shops, including Lakes Makerie, Knit and Bolt, and the Sewing Lounge donated fabric; the Textile Center served as a hub for volunteer sewers, and Art Buddies collaborated with the middle schoolers of Whittier Elementary School to illustrate more than 100 squares of the quilt.

The outpouring of support from the community was such that they overshot the initial goal of 11,000 squares, meant to represent the roughly 11,000 Minnesotan immigrants that were kidnapped by ICE between the beginning of Trump’s second term and the end of Operation Metro Surge. In total, more than 150 people have contributed to the effort. The finished quilt is approximately nine feet wide by 33 feet long.

Owen states, “We weren’t considering what happens when you ask Minnesotans for a favor, so the quilt here today actually contains 12,500 squares. Which is amazing. Unfortunately, it is reflective of what has been happening here over the past several months. Since March, ICE has abducted more than 900 Minnesotans and counting.”

Owen explained how the majority of these arrests that have largely gone unnoticed are due to 287(g) agreements between local agencies and DHS.

Banning collaboration between local agencies and ICE is the first item on MIRAC’s list of demands in its “Sanctuary State Now” campaign, focused on pressuring the governor to sign an executive order that would also protect sensitive locations from ICE, ban secret police, defend protestors against political repression, provide justice for victims of ICE terror, and implement a statewide eviction moratorium. The campaign promotes policies that provide true safety and justice, rather than a superficial peace that disguises streamlined persecution.

Alissa Washington, the executive director of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council and member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, mentioned how ICE kidnapped a member of her own family during the summer, many months after the supposed end of Operation Metro Surge.

Washington stated, “My 72-year-old uncle, Nonh Noradeth, had lived in this country for more than 40 years. ICE detained him here in Minnesota, transferred him all the way to Louisiana, and ultimately deported him to Laos. He left behind his wife and four children. And for a period of time, I became the guardian of those four children while our family tried to survive what had been done to us.”

Gabby Hobart, a rank-and-file member of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators and a bilingual educator, shared how one day, she received news of an abducted student and had to console his grieving mother.

Hobart stated, “To this day, I think of him, as he loved math and lit up every classroom. He was denied the joy of walking alongside his classmates during graduation. My story is just one among many. Educators across the city were on the front lines of responding to the federal occupation of our city, all the while our elected officials stood by and watched these terrors and horrors happen.”

Grace Gamble, is a member of Hands Off Latin America, affiliated with Women Against Military Madness. She explained how the U.S. creates the conditions for migration that the U.S. tries to violently suppress. From her visit to Cuba a month ago, she shared a firsthand account of how the U.S.’s fuel blockade on Cuba has been affecting the country.

The last two speakers expressed the importance of standing up for immigrants at home and those fighting against imperialism abroad, no matter your age or immigrant background.

Anna Madison, a member of Families Against Military Mayhem and Eyes Off Saint Paul, declared, pointed out how the Walz administration has been dragging its feet on enacting protections for immigrants and their allies, even as they’re being targeted by the federal government.

Jesus García, a member of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, shared that he “was undocumented for 25 years here in this nation, all the time working and contributing, because although one works without documents, one pays taxes. One contributes to the nation. Fortunately, thanks to God, last year I became an American citizen. For that reason I come to raise my voice for those who cannot. For those who are still under the shadows.”

At the end of the rally, participants gathered on the steps beside the quilt, chanting, “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” In this way, they demonstrated the core intention of the quilt.

The organizers of the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt Project can be contacted at mnquiltproject@gmail.com.

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC #Deportations

Minneapolis, MN—On Sunday, September 20, dozens rallied at Chute Square in Northeast Minneapolis as part of the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN)’s National Day of Action Against the War on Iran.

Protesters held signs and banners that read, “No war on Iran,” “Iran is not the enemy” and “No blood for oil.” Chants such as “From the belly of the beast, U.S. out of the Middle East” conveyed the sentiments of the demonstrators.

The rally was jointly organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) and the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) to recognize 200 days of ongoing resistance to the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression against Iran and its people.

A banner outlining the event’s demands read “No bombs! No sanctions!”

Organizers also made connections from Donald Trump’s war on Iran to the upcoming 25th anniversary of former U.S. President George W. Bush signing the Patriot Act, which authorized mass surveillance and curtailed civil rights, into U.S. law.

Nadiyah Salawdeh from U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) spoke during the program, stating, “The U.S. ‘war on terror’ may have started in 2001, but U.S. wars of terror in West and Central Asia have been slaughtering entire populations for decades.”

Salawdeh continued, “Iran has established its control over the Strait of Hormuz and the world’s economy. Yemeni people are liberating their land from Saudi occupation while continuing their fight against the Zionist entity. The Lebanese resistance continues its fight against rabid Israeli expansion. The people of Palestine continue to resist the genocidal Israeli occupation.”

Alissa Washington, director of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council (WIAOFC) also spoke, highlighting the everlasting effects of the Patriot Act, abroad and at home. “The Patriot Act dramatically expanded the government’s surveillance powers. Entire communities, especially Muslim, Arab, South Asian, African, and immigrant communities were treated as suspicious. The consequences of that era did not disappear when Bush left office,” stated Washington.

The U.S. has killed thousands of people, including hundreds of children, and committed war crimes in the roughly 200 days since it attacked Iran unprovoked on February 28 of this year. The human cost is amplified by U.S. economic warfare, like sanctions and a shipping blockade, against Iran.

Washington emphasized that “when economies are strangled, ordinary people struggle with the price and availability of food, medicine, fuel, transportation, and basic necessities.” She connected these attacks by the U.S. abroad to the domestic struggle.

“There is always money for war – for bombs, weapons, surveillance, the machinery of militarism. Yet, when our communities demand housing, healthcare, education, food, mental-health resources, environmental protections, and investments that actually keep people alive, suddenly we are told there isn’t enough money,” Washington affirmed.

In his speech, Yossi Aharoni from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) added, “We are told that Iran is our enemy. Iran’s only ‘crime’ was kicking the U.S. out from their energy markets, exercising their sovereignty over their own resources, and their refusal to let Palestine die alone in the dark.”

Organizers highlighted American crimes beyond the Middle East. Concurrently, the U.S. is blockading Cuba, coercing Venezuela after kidnapping its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores, supplying Israel with weapons for genocide against Palestinians, intensifying an air campaign on Somalia, kidnapping immigrants around the U.S., contracting with tech companies for mass surveillance, and more.

Other speakers at the event represented Families Against Military Madness, About Face: Veterans Against the War, Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Let Iran Live, and Educators for Justice in Palestine.

The same week, anti-war organizations in Tucson, Milwaukee, San Jose, Seattle, Washington D.C. and other cities across the country also participated in the AWAN’s call to action against U.S. war on Iran.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #MPAC #AWAN

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, September 15, protesters gathered at Loring Park to mark the 44th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, when thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese were slaughtered by far-right Lebanese militias with the assistance and supervision of the Israeli military.

Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) organized the protest to mourn the thousands murdered that day, and to highlight the continuity to today as Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and occupation of Lebanon — all sponsored by the United States.

The Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon were filled with Palestinian families, most of whom were driven out of Palestine in 1948 by Israeli militias during the Nakba. In 1982, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded Lebanon and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed to withdraw from the country, Lebanese Phalangists descended on the camps, at the behest of and supplied by the IDF. From September 16 thru 18, while the Israelis penned in the refugees and illuminated the night skies with flares, the Phalangists killed 3500 Palestinians. Many victims were raped and mutilated.

Speaking for the AWC, Maeve Aickin quoted survivor testimony, including Siham Balqis’s description of the aftermath: “We were made to walk over the dead bodies, and among cluster bombs. At one point I passed a tank, where the body of a baby only a few days old was stuck to the wheel.”

The massacre has been commemorated by Palestinians and the global Palestinian solidarity movement ever since. The extreme carnage continues to shock today, but the event fits squarely in the pattern of Israeli operations.

“Israel doesn’t require legitimate pretext to invade, to pillage, and to massacre,” said Lina Jebara of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), noting that the massacre took place during a ceasefire. “In the last 44 years, it’s been clear that Israel’s approach to carrying out its terror campaigns throughout Palestine and Lebanon have not changed; martyr civilians, raze villages, and traumatize generations, all while calling on the resistance factions in the territories it’s attacking to lay down their arms and surrender to an Israeli notion of peace, to put their necks to the Israeli sword.”

Advocates explained that the connection between Israel’s massacres extends to the U.S., and to Minnesota specifically.

“Just two years ago, Palestinian journalists identified an inertial measurement unit that had been produced at the Minneapolis Honeywell plant in the rubble of the Al-Sardi School, which was located in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp,” Aickin said. “Just as American families abetted Israel’s mass murder of Palestinian and Lebanese families in 1982 by staying silent and complying as their government-funded the U.S. military outpost, known as Israel, to the tune of 7.2 million taxpayer dollars a day, American families in 2026 are abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its merciless settler violence in the West Bank, and its colonial annexation project in Southern Lebanon by allowing politicians like Tim Walz to invest our tax dollars in companies that provide the technological infrastructure for Israeli atrocities.”

“Israel and the United States would like nothing more than for us to forget this kind of history. The U.S. empire erases its crimes against the oppressed, and it whitewashes the history of the people who struggle against it,” said Sonja Tomasko of WAMM.

“We’ve witnessed, repeatedly, an incredibly lucid candor take shape across the Middle East from people who refuse to bow to their oppressors,” Jebara emphasized. “It’s the Iranians holding down the Strait of Hormuz, the Yemenis reclaiming Saudi-occupied land, the Palestinians and Lebanese who’ve continued to resist and rebuild to come back and to resist, who refuse to capitulate, who are making clear the only viable path to liberation, who are making clear that the U.S. and Israel must get out of the Middle East.”

What does this mean for Minnesotans? Aickin said, “It means showing up to the State Board of Investment [SBI] meeting on September 22 to demand that the SBI divest from Palantir, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, RTX, and all other corporations that use teachers’ pension funds to bomb teachers and students in their schools in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon. It means showing up to our protest on October 4 to demand that Honeywell drop its exclusive contract with the Department of War to produce IMUs like the one found in Gaza.”

Aickin continued, “As the SBI pours money into murder and Honeywell produces critical missile components in our communities, we have both the opportunity and the moral responsibility to throw a wrench in the kill chain and refuse to stand down until we’ve torn the whole thing to the ground.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Iran #WAMM #AWC #Palestine #Lebanon

St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, September 12, the annual Justice for Stolen Lives March took place. The march is organized annually by Toshira Garraway and Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence (FSFAPV) to honor and demand justice for all lives stolen by police. Garraway’s fiancé, Justin Teigen, was brutally murdered and had his body dumped into a recycling bin in 2009 by the Saint Paul Police Department.

The three-mile march started at the Saint Paul Police Department on Hamline Avenue and ended in front of the Minnesota State Capitol, where impacted families spoke powerfully about their loved ones and their fights for justice.

The chanters of the march included Mississippi organizer Marquell Bridges of the Building Bridges Coalition, who travelled to Minnesota with Daveon Williams, the father of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old baby who was shot and killed in the arms of his mother earlier this year by a Senatobia, Mississippi police officer.

Bridges spoke to the shared struggle between organizers in Minnesota and Mississippi. Bridges stated, “It's important for us to build this network. It’s important for us to build community and share this space together. Continue to lead the world. We need you to come to Mississippi and show us how you got ICE out. Show us how you created the 2020 movement.”

There was no shortage of stories from impacted families to be shared at the Justice for Stolen Lives March. The family of David Storbakken, an unhoused Native man whose disappearance has not been investigated by SPPD; Ebony Dobbins, a mother who had her home broken into unlawfully by Minneapolis police; Amity Dimock, the mother of Kobe Heisler, an autistic Black man shot during a mental health crisis, and others, all spoke passionately about the painful impacts of experiencing police violence, only to face the indifference of government and the public.

Karen Wells, the mother of Amir Locke, who was murdered in 2022 by Minneapolis Police Department officer Mark Hanneman, spoke candidly about Mayor Jacob Frey’s role in protecting MPD from consequences. Wells called out Frey for dancing in the streets with Black folks while failing to protect communities from MPD’s well-documented racism and violence.

“I have a problem with that, because you’re still trying to cover up my son's murder,” said Wells. “After you shoot our loved ones, you tie their hands behind their backs? There is going to come a time today when [Frey] is going to meet me in person and you are going to have to deal with Amir Ricardo Locke’s mother.”

Many impacted family members are still finding their voices while going through the pain of losing their loved ones and the fear of reprisals from police criminals. That is why organizations like FSFAPV, the Building Bridges Coalition and the Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council are so important. Impacted families need the support of the people’s movements, because the onslaught from the enemy does not cease after the police kill a community member. Those who speak up and fight for justice, like Garraway is currently doing for her fiancé Justin Teigen, often face retaliation and threats from police or their sycophants.

The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, a branch organization of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, played key roles in helping organize and execute the march by volunteering as marshals, emcees, chanters and speakers. Members also petitioned and spoke about their ongoing campaign to win community control of Minneapolis police.

Jae Yates, a TCC4J organizer, told the crowd, “Someone in the crowd reminded me that disabled people are twice as likely to be killed by police, and it’s important that we uplift that. So many of the families we advocate for had their loved ones murdered because of mental health or mobility problems that made police perceive them as uncooperative or dangerous. We have to commit to protecting all marginalized people, because if the person next to you can’t live in safety and peace, neither can you. We are being kept down by the exact same people, and we only win by fighting together.”

On Friday, September 11, at the Capri Theater in north Minneapolis, community members and organizers gathered for a screening of the 2024 documentary The People’s Way.

The documentary, created by two Black filmmakers, Ashley and William Tyner, follows three Black women leaders in Minneapolis: George Floyd Square caretaker Janelle Austin, City Council member Robin Wonsley and Toshira Garraway, founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence. The film was a powerful reminder of the strength of the movement for Black liberation here in Minneapolis.

#StPaulMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #TCC4J #FSFAPV

Minneapolis, MN – El 30 de agosto, T-Mobile y AT&T divulgaron que habían enviado los registros telefónicos de varios activistas de las Ciudades Gemelas a ICE y agentes de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional después de recibir una citación presentada por Seguridad Nacional en abril 12, 2026. Estos incluían los datos de telecomunicaciones de Jess Sundin, Steff Yorek y otros activistas anti guerra y anti ICE, como registros para la línea telefónica del Minnesota Council for American-Islamic Relations (Consejo de Minnesota para Relaciones Americano-Islámicas).

T-Mobile y AT&T cumplieron con la citación a pesar de que ninguno de los tres fueron acusados de cargos criminales, ni fueron notificados o pedidos de consentir a tales divulgaciones. Dada la naturaleza fraudulenta de la citación, otras compañías, como Google, rechazaron divulgar cualquier información.

Esta citación vino como parte de una investigación federal en desarrollo de los activistas que protestaron en enero 18 en Saint Paul contra el predicador en Cities Church, David Easterwood, quien es el director interino de la oficina local de las Operaciones de Detención y Deportación, también conocida como ERO St. Paul. 39 activistas de Minnesota, incluyendo activistas comunitarios negros Monique Cullars-Doty y Nekima Levy Armstrong, fueron arrestados en relación a esta acción, al igual que los reporteros notorios Georgia Fort y Don Lemon.

Sundin y Yorek son activistas anti guerra cuyo historial de activismo de solidaridad internacional se remonta a décadas atrás. Fueron incluídas en las redadas del FBI en 2010 y citaciones subsecuentes a un jurado de acusación, las cuales rehusaron cumplir. No estuvieron presentes ni estuvieron involucradas con la planeación de la protesta en Cities Church. La línea telefónica del Consejo de Minnesota para Relaciones Americano-Islámicas también carece de alguna relación discernible con la acción en Cities Church.

Un aspecto importante de la citación es que no son órdenes de cateo emitidas por una corte. Listado en la citación como uno de los receptores de la información es el agente especial del HSI Timothy Gerber, quien trabajó para el IRS antes de pasar a ICE en 2026. Él intentó, primero en febrero 2026 y después en marzo 2026, asegurar órdenes de cateo para incautar datos electrónicos de cinco acusados en el caso de Cities Church pero fue anulado por el juez John Docherty por fallar en establecer causa probable. Dos veces.

Desde entonces, Gerber, Grayson Cooper y el agente especial Steven Schrank han recurrido a citaciones de ICE para recuperar estos datos. La citación cita una ley que ordena la divulgación de datos relacionados a tasas pagadas a aduanas y otros asuntos de aduanas. La investigación de Cities Church no está relacionada a esto en absoluto. La citación de ICE ha recibido el extenso desdén de abogados y organizaciones de libertades civiles.

Esta citación viene como el siguiente paso en la saga de represión política lanzada contra los activistas anti ICE en las Ciudades Gemelas. Aparte de la protesta de Cities Church, 15 protestantes anti ICE, ahora conocidos como los 15 de Minnesota, han sido procesados con cargos federales falaces y enfrentan hasta más de una década en prisión por su activismo en el Whipple Building federal en Minneapolis. Los cargos incluyen el delito de conspiración para impedir un oficial federal, asalto de un oficial federal, acoso interestatal, amenazas interestatales, y más.

A pesar de las protestas involucrando más de 100,000 personas en el curso de meses invernales de temperatura subzero, Jonathan Ross, el agente de ICE que mató a Renee Good, y Jesus Ochoa y Raymundo Gutierrez, los agentes de ICE que mataron a Alex Pretti, están caminando libres y no han sido procesados por ningún crimen.

“Muchos de los 39 protestantes justos de Cities Church son mis amigos y colegas en el movimiento,” dijo Jess Sundin, una de los 23 Anti Guerra y una de los activistas de las Ciudades Gemelas cuyos registros telefónicos fueron incautados. “Ellos están siendo procesados por hacer lo correcto – oponerse a los ataques brutales de ICE contra inmigrantes. La idea de que el gobierno use una citación falaz para conseguir registros de sus comunicaciones conmigo es un intento desesperado para formar un caso de nada. En vez de dividirnos, o silenciarnos, las acciones del gobierno solo están fortaleciendo nuestra solidaridad y compromiso de seguir luchando por la justicia.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #DHS #PoliticalRepression #Minnesota15

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, September 5, over 50 people converged on Minneapolis’s urban lakes to pressure Minnesota’s presumptive governor Amy Klobuchar to take a stand against sulfide mining. While the majority of those assembled took to canoes and kayaks, another contingent marched alongside the flotilla on the lakeshore.

Chants of “Hey hey! Ho ho! Sulfide mining has got to go!” and “Water is life!” could be heard across the water as the protesters navigated the chain of lakes in vessels bearing flags with slogans such as “Defend MN waters” and “No sulfide mining.”

Several weeks before, Minnesota's current governor, Tim Walz issued executive order 26-10, prohibiting non-ferrous mining in the Rainy River watershed, which feeds into the Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Area, and, ultimately, into Hudson Bay. This measure was welcomed by many, after the April repeal of a federal mining ban in the area. Those assembled Saturday, however, felt the executive order did not do enough to protect the wetlands, which are dear to the hearts of many Minnesotans.

The protesters expressed concern that Walz’s order would not be followed up by action from the incoming legislature, nor from Amy Klobuchar, who is widely expected to win her gubernatorial bid this fall. Furthermore, the executive order leaves open the possibility of sulfide mining in Minnesota's other 79 watersheds, such as the Lake Superior and Mississippi River basins. Of additional concern was Klobuchar’s position on sulfide mining, which remains unclear as she has yet to take a stance on the environmentally destructive practice.

Despite Klobuchar's recent insistence that further studies need to be done to confirm whether sulfide mining can be done safely, to date not one sulfide mining operation has taken place without polluting the land with toxic runoff. With sulfide mining, the remains left by the extraction process turn into toxic liquids such as sulfuric acid when exposed to air and water, even in relatively arid landscapes. When left exposed in a wetland, the damage is likely to be thorough and immediate, threatening natural habitats and drinking water for human populations.

Speaking for the Climate Justice Committee, Ben Sullivan-McKone stated, “In a city named after water, in a state named after water, we take having fresh water for granted. The watersheds in Minnesota are upstream of everywhere from the Mississippi River to Hudson Bay. If Minnesota's watersheds are polluted, it will have effects across the country.”

Sullivan-McKone continued, “If we don't fight to protect our fresh water, we very well may have to face a future where that is not a possibility anymore.”

Minneapolis’ urban lake system is a popular recreation destination for canoe enthusiasts who value the of Boundary Waters. Conversations were had between protesters and the general public, many of whom had previously assumed Walz’s executive order had offered the embattled wetlands a greater measure of protection.

The highly visible protest was organized by the Climate Justice Committee and joined by other local groups such as Save the Boundary Waters, Friends of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Minnesota 50501. Despite the gravity of the situation, the mood on the water was jubilant, and many of the attendees expressed a desire to see similar actions in the future, as “our waters are constantly under attack,” as one attendee put it.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #BoundaryWaters #ClimateJusticeCommittee #SulfideMining

Minneapolis, MN – On August 30, T-Mobile and AT&T disclosed that they had sent the phone records of several Twin Cities activists to ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents after receiving a summons filed by Homeland Security on April 12, 2026. These included the telecommunications data of Jess Sundin, Steff Yorek and other anti-ICE and anti-war activists, such records for the phone line for Minnesota Council for American-Islamic Relations.

T-Mobile and AT&T complied with the summons even though none of the three were charged with any criminal charges, nor were they notified or asked to consent to such disclosures. Given the fraudulent nature of the summons, other companies, such as Google, declined to disclose any data.

These summons came as part of an ongoing federal investigation of the activists who protested on January 18 in Saint Paul against the preacher in Cities Church, David Easterwood, who is the acting field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, known as ERO St. Paul. 39 Minnesota activists, including Black community activists Monique Cullars-Doty and Nekima Levy Armstrong, were arrested in connection to this action, along with the high-profile journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon.

Sundin and Yorek are anti-war activists whose record of international solidarity activism goes back decades. They were included in FBI raids in 2010 and subsequent subpoenas to a grand jury, with which they refused to comply. They were not present at nor involved with the planning of the Cities Church protest. The Minnesota Council for American-Islamic Relations phone line also lacks any discernible connection to the Cities Church action.

One important aspect of the summons is that they are not court-issued search warrants. Listed on the summons as one of the recipients of the data is HSI Special Agent Timothy Gerber, who worked for the IRS before moving over to ICE in 2026. He attempted, first in February 2026 and then again in March 2026, to secure search warrants to seize electronic data for five defendants in the Cities Church case but was struck down by Judge John Docherty for failure to establish probable cause. Twice.

Since then, Gerber, Grayson Cooper and Special Agent Steven Schrank have resorted to ICE summons to retrieve this data. The summons cites a law that mandates the disclosure of data related to fees paid to customs and other customs business. The City Church investigation is not related to this at all. The ICE summons has received widespread disdain from lawyers and civil liberties organizations.

These summons come as the next step in the saga of political repression launched against anti-ICE activists in the Twin Cities. Apart from the Cities Church protest, 15 anti-ICE protesters, known now as the Minnesota 15, have been indicted on bogus federal charges and face up to over a decade in prison for their activism at the federal Whipple Building in Minneapolis. The charges include felony conspiracy to impede a federal officer, assault of a federal officer, interstate stalking, interstate threats, and more.

In spite of protests involving over 100,000 people over the course of subzero winter months, Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed Renee Good, and Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, the ICE agents who killed Alex Pretti, are walking free and have not been charged for any crimes.

“Many of the Righteous 39 Cities Church protesters are my friends and movement colleagues,” said Jess Sundin, one of the Anti-War 23 and one of the Twin Cities activists whose phone records were seized. “They are being prosecuted for doing the right thing – standing against ICE's brutal attacks on immigrants. The idea that the government would use a bogus summons to get records of their communications with me is a desperate attempt to make a case out of nothing. Instead of dividing us, or silencing us, the government's actions are only strengthening our solidarity and commitment to keep fighting for justice.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #PoliticalRepression #ICE #DHS #InjusticeSystem #Feature

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.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palantir #Surveillance #ImmigrantRights #ICE

Minneapolis, MN – On August 30, the newly-formed U.S. Out of Africa Committee of Women Against Military Madness hosted its first event, “Understanding the Tools of Empire: A Panel on Mass Incarceration, Police Violence, and Extraordinary Rendition.” 

Dozens of community members packed the main room of the Lucy Parsons Center. They wanted to learn about the relationship between racialized policing and mass incarceration inside U.S. borders, and U.S. intervention and state-sponsored abductions in Africa.

Khrys Wetzel, a founding member of the U.S. Out of Africa committee (UOA) and volunteer with the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC), opened the function. Wetzel grounded attendees in a brief history of Black August. In 1979, the Black Guerrilla Family, a group of revolutionaries incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison started it. Black August is a month to commemorate persecuted and slain Black freedom fighters. It is also an opportunity to strengthen organized resistance to racial injustice and state repression of Black people and other oppressed nationality peoples. 

Panelist Jae Yates of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) explained, “North American policing has its roots in the slave patrols responsible for capturing escaped slaves and forcibly returning them to plantations.”

Yates continued, “Post-Reconstruction, these militias were formalized into modern police departments that funneled Black people into prisons for crimes that boiled down to taking up space in public.”

Panelist Alissa Washington, the executive director of Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council (WIAOFC), said, “These struggles aren’t identical, but they’re connected through systems of power that decide whose lives deserve protection, whose suffering matters, and whose lives can be treated as disposable.”

Washington highlighted the sprawling nature of the U.S. prison system, which now comprises 20% of the global prison population. This, in spite of the fact that U.S. residents only make up 4.2% of the world’s population. The U.S. prison system is by far the largest on earth, with Black, Chicano, indigenous and other oppressed nationalities jailed at higher rates than whites.

One of the primary campaigns that WIAOFC has championed is the call to free Washington’s fiancé Cornelius Jackson, known as Corn. Jackson was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 19 for being present at the scene of a crime he did not commit. Panel attendees listened with rapt attention as Washington described Jackson’s case, then joined her in chanting “Free Corn!”

Nicholas Tolliver, another founding member of UOA emphasized that the same system that surveils, represses, incarcerates, and kills Black and other oppressed people across the U.S. also inflicts horrific violence on civilians in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. 

Over the past quarter-century, the U.S. has used the “War on Terror” as a pretext for expanding military intervention in countries across the African continent. This causes regional instability, rampant corruption, and bloody counterinsurgent aggressions funded and directed by the U.S. government and the Pentagon.

The strategic command center of the U.S. military in Africa, AFRICOM, carries out lethal drone strikes and summary executions with impunity. Companies including Honeywell and Palantir reap enormous profits manufacturing equipment and planning for this military violence. Meanwhile, the shadowy state-sponsored kidnapping practice of extraordinary rendition continues to transfer people to foreign countries. Prisoners are detained indefinitely and subjected to extrajudicial torture.

While racist domestic police forces brutalize, criminalize, incarcerate, and kill people inside U.S. borders, the U.S. military-industrial complex invests in militarized violence across the countries of Africa and beyond. 

Panelists closed by encouraging audience members to join groups like UOA, TCC4J and WIAOFC in order to build the collective power needed to effectively combat the oppressive U.S. state and its imperialist appendages overseas.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #BlackAugust #AFRICOM #AntiWarMovement

MIRAC member Mira Altobell-Resendez introduced the film, saying, “The reason the Chicano people were particularly angry about the U.S. waging war against Vietnam was because even though we made up 10% of the American population, we made up 20% of American casualties.”

These shocking statistics, along with discrimination in housing, education and employment, created conditions for Chicanos to fill the streets in the tens of thousands. They were demanding the reallocation of U.S. resources and full racial equality. During the peaceful protest in 1970, LAPD officers started attacking the crowd with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets, ultimately killing three people. Police murdered two Brown Beret members, Lyn Ward and Angel Diaz. Police also murdered well-known and respected LA Times journalist Ruben Salazar.

20 Years, ¿Y Qué? was produced by the National Chicano Moratorium Committee in 1990. Only 28 minutes, it covers the Chicano struggle for self-determination through interviews with organizers and others who participated in the commemorative Chicano Moratorium march. Taking the same march route, youth and elders of the movement called for solidarity with all oppressed people and justice for the victims of police violence.

After the documentary, members of the audience reflected on the state of the movement for the rights of Chicanos, Black people and other nationalities facing oppression within the U.S.. One Chicano elder expressed gratitude for events that keep the radical roots of the Chicano identity alive decades after the beginning of the movement.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #MIRAC #ChicanoMoratorium

St. Paul, MN – Amid a nationwide wave of outrage against Flock automatic license plate readers, community members packed city council chambers on August 26 for a public hearing on police surveillance technology and data privacy. Dozens of community members testified to their opposition to the city’s use of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras made by Flock and Axon, as well as autonomous drones manufactured by Skydio.

The public hearing was initiated after the previous week’s city council meeting, when activists with the Free Palestine Coalition (FPC) interrupted the proceedings to demand transparency around the city’s contract with Skydio and a process to end it. Organizers explained that Skydio was complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, supplying cutting-edge drones that use AI to surveil urban areas and identify potential targets.

“Skydio is a U.S. company, but the reason it scaled up its sales to institutions started when it sold hundreds of drones to the Israeli military for its genocide in Gaza,” explained FPC organizer and Saint Paul resident Wyatt Miller in his comments to the council members. “If it wasn’t necessary before a genocide, it shouldn’t be necessary now.”

In June, the FPC initiated a campaign against a proposed Skydio contract with the nearby city of Minneapolis. Hundreds of community members mobilized to urge Minneapolis not to contract with a genocide-complicit company and raised concerns around the technology’s use in the hands of the city’s infamous police department. Minneapolis City Council ultimately caved to community pressure and voted to reject the proposed Skydio contract.

The coalition then teamed up with anti-surveillance group Eyes Off Saint Paul to address the issue in that city. Advocates learned that the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) had quietly adopted a similar Skydio drone program without a public hearing, claiming the drones constituted an expansion of an existing contract, allowing it to bypass normal public process.

“We can’t find any public record of the contract. We don’t know how much money is being spent,” Miller told the council. “The only dollar amount that’s been published publicly comes as an ‘estimate’ to the media from the police department itself.”

Many speakers expressed outrage over expenditures on new surveillance tools at a time when Mayor Kaohly Her’s budget includes significant cuts and the closure of the public library in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.

Anna Madison is a member of Eyes Off Saint Paul as well as Families Against Military Madness. “Militarized AI-powered technology continues to advance at a pace that is increasingly difficult to keep up with,” Madison explained to the council. “The only way we can ensure that this technology is not used to harm us is to end these contracts and ban AI-powered mass surveillance immediately.”

Much of the popular outrage has focused on Flock, with high-profile instances of communities destroying the stationary AI cameras around the country. At the regular Saint Paul City Council meeting that took place just before the special hearing on surveillance, the council passed a nonbinding resolution announcing the removal of two city-operated Flock cameras. However, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office reportedly continues to operate Flock cameras in Saint Paul.

Activists vowed to continue the fight, looking beyond just Flock to other city contracts with AI-powered surveillance companies. They said the oppressive nature of these technologies were demonstrated by their use during the federal anti-immigrant crackdown as well as by Israel in its oppression of Palestinians.

“Corporations cannot be trusted not to share data and recordings with immigration enforcement like what we saw with Operation Metro Surge,” Cedar Larson of Women Against Military Madness told the council. “We know that Axon recently acquired Israeli company Carbyne, which makes AI-powered emergency communications used by police. This props up Israel’s tech sector, which makes up 20% of the apartheid state’s GDP and about half of its annual exports.”

Sana Wazwaz is a Palestinian American and chapter lead of American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota, part of the FPC. “Our coalition firmly believes that no fantasy of stopping crimes is worth the greater crime of being complicit in fascism and genocide,” Wazwaz told the council. “Skydio has an active contract with the very entity that terrorized our community just this last winter. In the words of Minneapolis Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, ‘To contract with Skydio in light of what happened during Metro Surge is nothing short of morally bankrupt.’ ”

Speakers also argued that crimes committed by SPPD and other police departments showed they could not be trusted with new surveillance technologies. Officers in several states have been accused of using Flock data to stalk ex-girlfriends. An officer in Texas allegedly used the system to track the movements of a woman seeking an abortion.

Wazwaz concluded, “What we have seen with the murder of Marcus Golden here in Saint Paul, with the murders of Philando Castile, George Floyd, Jamar Clark, that law enforcement without community control over police must not be given surveillance tools.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Skydio #Palestine #Surveillance #Flock

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 27, over 100 people turned out to the federal courthouse in Minneapolis for the latest hearing for Minnesota 15, the group of anti-ICE protesters who have been indicted on bogus federal conspiracy charges for their alleged activities during Operation Metro Surge.

Recently, documents were released by the courts which detailed the Trump administration’s massive surveillance operation in Minneapolis targeting anti-ICE activists, labor unions and community groups. It included tactics such as sending undercover agents to public meetings and protests, using AI facial recognition software to track individuals, and recording suspected activists’ license plates in public parking lots.

This hearing was around a motion by the defense to get the government to release more of its evidence in the case against the 15, a move the Trump-appointed prosecutors are resisting.

The courtroom quickly filled up, but the plaza outside the building remained packed with supporters throughout the hearing.

Meredith Aby, director of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), a member organization of the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump, was one of the people who managed to get into the courtroom. She stated, “The courtroom was filled with supporters because people are outraged that community activists are being targeted by the Trump administration for standing with our immigrant neighbors.”

After the hearing, some of the defendants spoke at a press conference, including Isaac Sant, who stated, “They were spying on us from day one. In fact, five days before Operation Metro Surge was declared, they began spying on our organizations. They had a directive to get out there and find ‘Antifa.’” Sant continued, “If it wasn’t us on trial, it was going to be one of you.” He concluded, “This is a politically-motivated prosecution, and I believe we’re going to win, and this is going to be thrown out.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #PoliticalRepression #MN15 #ICE #OperationMetroSurge #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, dozens of community members attended a panel titled “How MN Money is Funding Palantir’s Deadly Surveillance Network” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel, organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), discussed divestment from the AI surveillance company Palantir. Palantir facilitates human rights violations against Palestinians, as well as immigrants in Minnesota.

The panelists explained that Palantir arose from U.S. wars on Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s. Palantir’s surveillance technology exists as a tool to direct violence against vulnerable groups. Palantir’s programs parse vast amounts of data on the lives of many people, streamlining the process by which intelligence agencies, militaries and police forces choose who to target. This includes recent U.S. strikes on Venezuela and Iran, and Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Palantir’s technology also enables federal agents within the U.S. to surveil Americans, especially targeting immigrant communities. During the past winter, Minnesota faced an occupation by thousands of ICE agents who acted violently and killed protesters.

Palantir is also utilized by the Israeli military for rapid mass targeting of Palestinians. “Having a computer program that orders execution amounts to a very thin moral pretext for a conscious act of genocide,” said Joe Yamine, speaking for the AWC.

The Minnesota State Board of Investment currently has $57 million invested in Palantir. Panelists stressed the importance of getting the SBI to divest that money, much of which comes from public worker pensions, as well as taxpayers.

Palantir is now facing significant opposition from many groups across the country, including divestment campaigns. Panelists highlighted the successes of public pressure on politicians, universities and hospitals to cut ties with the company. These successes are a result of community actions, which will continue to gain ground as more groups organize around the cause. Under pressure from anti-war activists in Denver, Palantir recently moved its headquarters to Miami, Florida.

As Kenny Morris from the American Friends Service Committee explained, “Divestment is possible. It’s happened before, and I’m sure it will happen in your state too.”

Speakers included members of the American Friends Service Committee, the Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, and Minnesota 50501.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Surveillance #Palantir #MNAWC

Minneapolis, MN – On August 22, at 11:30 a.m. the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) organized a counter-protest to the Jake Lang hate rally. More than 100 protesters showed up in opposition to Lang’s white supremacist hate speech, aimed this time at the Black community. Lang has also called for the reinstitution of Jim Crow laws, calls to deport all immigrants from the U.S., and anti-Muslim hate speech.

When counter-protest organizers arrived at city hall, Minneapolis Police Department officers threatened to tow away their sound and medic vehicles. But when Jake Lang and his band of less than ten supporters showed up with two vehicles, MPD allowed them to drive onto the sidewalk. Officers surrounded Lang’s vehicles as they moved forward, effectively providing them with an armed escort.

MPD can be seen on video pushing and hitting protesters, ensuring Lang’s hate speech could continue. Mayor Jacob Frey stated to the press that MPD arrested Lang after he was run off by the crowd. But there was no reason to not arrest Lang for driving on the sidewalk. This unequal treatment of left and right-wing protest is nothing new to PACAT organizers.

MPD also arrested an anti-Lang protester who dressed as Spider-Man and adopted the hero’s persona by facing off with Lang and his ilk directly. MPD threw Minneapolis’ Spider-Man to the ground and stomped on his head before forcing him into a squad vehicle. The protester was released later the same day and received medical care after leaving the jail. PACAT and other community members are organizing a support action around Spider-Man’s September 4 court appearance on bogus assault charges.

A statement from PACAT notes, “If it was not clear before where the priorities of the Minneapolis police, and the mayor with sole authority over them, lie, it should now be clear to every Minneapolis resident who considers themselves anti-fascist and anti-racist that we are not the people they serve or protect. After the complete failure of Mayor Frey and MPD to protect residents from ICE during Metro Surge, and years of violence against Black, native and immigrant communities, we must understand them as ineffective at best and capitulators to the far right at worst.”

The People’s Action Coalition Against Trump and its member organizations are calling for the immediate resignation of Mayor Jacob Frey and interim MPD Chief Bill Peterson, as well as systemic reforms like community control of the police.

The PACAT counter-protest was supported by Black Lives Matter MN, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, the Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, TC Democratic Socialists of America, Minnesota 50501, and MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #RightWingers #JakeLang #Fascists #WhiteSupremacists #PACAT #JakeLang #SpiderMan #Feature #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ImmigrantRights

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 13, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) hosted a panel titled “To Hell With Honeywell” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel shared the history of Honeywell’s production of weapons parts in Minneapolis, and local resistance efforts to its complicity in U.S. war crimes.

Honeywell is a prominent U.S. weapons manufacturer with a major facility operating right in the backyard of the Northeast neighborhood. Honeywell’s own website shows that in 2025 roughly 40% of its profits came from “Defense and Space,” with half of those profits coming from sales to the U.S. government.

The panelists condemned the new $500 million contract that Honeywell currently has with the Department of Defense. Under a separate defense contract, the Minneapolis Honeywell location was given over $30.8 million to accelerate production of technology in support of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, specifically, production of 1890 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range (AARGMER) inertial measurement units (IMUs). These parts, used in missiles and military drones, are integral to the navigation of these weapons towards their targets.

The panel also featured organizers from the historic “Honeywell Project” in Minnesota spanning back to the 1960s. This decades-long campaign pressured the Minneapolis Honeywell location to stop the local production of cluster bombs used to commit war crimes in Southeast Asia and Lebanon.

During the presentation, images of IMUs found in Palestine after bombings showed production labels, “Honeywell, Inc. Mpls, MN.” Both Lockheed Martin and Boeing use these specific IMUs from Honeywell in a number of their fighter jets, missiles and bombs. Furthermore, the General Atomics company uses them in its infamous MQ-9 Reaper Drones. These weapons have been used by the U.S. and Israel to target people in countries across the globe, including Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen.

In the case of this new Department of Defense contract, the Honeywell location in Minneapolis is unique, as the department states that these specific IMUs can only be produced at the Minneapolis Honeywell location without there being a significant delay in production.

Protesting Honeywell over the decades

Twin Cities residents are no strangers to disrupting production at Honeywell and telling war profiteers that they are not welcome. Longtime local organizers Sarah Martin, of Women Against Military Madness and the Honeywell Project in the 1980s, and Cindy Doll, also of the Honeywell Project and a Minnesota Nurses Association member, shared lessons. They explained how organizing led to the massive actions and extensive engagement that created roadblocks to Honeywell’s production and damaged its reputation over the years.

The panelists talked about the founders of the Honeywell Project, including anti-war and civil rights activist Marv Davidov, and 25 others who started meeting in 1968, when Honeywell’s corporate headquarters was located in Minneapolis. They shared the devastating impact of the 90 million cluster bombs, many made by Honeywell, that were dropped over Southeast Asia during the U.S. war on Vietnam. Unexploded ordinance is still killing civilians, many of them children, and farm animals decades later in places like Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Honeywell Project led leafleting campaigns, bannering actions outside of the homes of Honeywell executives, meetings with company leaders, vigils, civil disobedience actions, and demonstrations outside Honeywell headquarters and shareholder meetings.

Some of these actions included thousands of demonstrators. Martin said, “At an October protest in 1983, 575 people were arrested!”

Martin continued, “The people formed a chain around the headquarters,” adding, “These protests closed the headquarters down several times.” Panelists estimated there were 2200 arrests between 1980 and 1987.

Demonstrations continued against landmines, as the “Alliant Action” campaign in the 1990s, when Honeywell formed a new company, Alliant Techsystems, to include its defense division.

Describing years of direct action protests at the Honeywell headquarters in Minneapolis in the 1980s, Cindy Doll shared, “Being part of the Honeywell Project for me meant a great deal of learning about weapons, about the history of war, about protest movements, about government involvement in war at home and abroad” and “I learned how to talk to my city council representative, my employer, my family.”

Reflecting on the power of workers and organized labor, other panelists highlighted the role that activists and organized labor have in resisting Honeywell’s production of weapons parts.

Amber Mathwig with About Face: Veterans Against the War shared, “These IMUs are manufactured by unionized labor – Teamsters, specifically, here in Minneapolis. And I think that’s a really important aspect of challenging the military-industrial complex because so much of our organized labor is within the military industrial complex.” She explained, “There are challenges there in pointing out to people, ‘Hey, your lifestyle, your good union benefits, come at this huge expense to the cost of life around the globe.’ And that is one thing that About Face has been uniquely positioned to talk about.”

With such a strong local history of opposing U.S. militarism and Honeywell’s production of weapons in Minneapolis, advocates said that rich history can teach future generations.

Lina Jebara of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee said, “We know disruption to Honeywell’s IMU production would be disastrous,” pointing out that, “With increased shortages, we really are particularly positioned in Minneapolis to affect the ability to which the U.S. and Israel are able to actually create these munitions and carry out these crimes against humanity.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #MPAC

Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, community members gathered at Mayday Plaza to honor the 81st anniversary of Korean Liberation Day. The event was held in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, right outside of Mayday Books.

The action was emceed by Trent Fast from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Leo Del Rio from About Face, who began with the acknowledgement of the U.S.’s ongoing presence and occupation in Korea.

One occupation replaced by another

Fast explained to the crowd that the first liberation day in Korea was in 1945, after World War II ended. This marked an end to decades of Japanese colonial rule. Soon after, however, the United States military “showed up and established its own, brand-new occupation.” Thus, the Korean War began.

From 1950 to 1953, the U.S. government killed over two-and-a-half million Koreans and nearly decimated every major North Korean city. At the end of those three long years, the Mutual Defense Treaty was signed. Even though the war had “ended,” the U.S. remained in Korea as an imperialist force, occupying newly-designated South Korea. This occupation still lasts today. On average, there are about 28,000 U.S. troops that are living in Korea, and South Korea has the largest overseas U.S. Army base in the world.

Cedar Larson, representing WAMM, educated the crowd around the Mutual Defense Treaty and other similar agreements, calling them, “political tools to increase U.S. domination and control” over the land. They said the treaty gave the U.S. the “opportunity to threaten their enemies” and had “disastrous effects on the lives of the people.”

Forced prostitution

Larson also drew attention to the human rights violations that have been occurring since the 1960s. For example, the governments of the United States and South Korea established areas around military bases known as “special tourist zones for foreigners” – meaning soldiers. In these designated areas, South Korean, American and United Nations troops introduced forced prostitution. Women and girls, as young as 15, were “deceived, kidnapped, and forced into sex labor,” said Larson.

These crimes have continued to the present day. Even though laws have been put into place, they are rarely followed. The areas discussed above are often now branded as “tourist stops” but have a dark underbelly.

Ecological consequences of imperialism

Liz McLister from FAMM brought up the ecological effects that the U.S. occupation has had in Korea. McLister said that from “contaminating water supplies and arable land” to “disrupting wildlife habitats,” the U.S. has only brought destruction to the country. As climate change continues to worsen, the Pacific region is experiencing extreme heat, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and severe storm systems.

U.S. activities in the region are accelerating ecological damage and leaving its communities traumatized by decades of systemic abuse. Emily Newberg from WAMM stated, “Occupation is wrong. To occupy another’s land to take away their sovereignty and their self-determination. It leads to catastrophe in almost every way: economically, environmentally and nationally as the people are torn apart by propaganda and false promises.”

Not only does this occupation affect the communities living in Korea, but also U.S. citizens. U.S. tax dollars are being used to maintain around 80 military bases in Korea, using “$6 billion to maintain U.S. bases and troops in South Korea,” according to Larson. McLister pointed out that the “Korean peninsula is of immense strategic value to U.S. military operations.”

Korea’s proximity to China and other strategic locations makes it the perfect target for the U.S. military and imperialist interests.

Simulated invasion

Along with the maintenance of military bases, the United States also engages in staged military exercises or “war games.” Since 2021, the U.S. government has stolen $60 billion from U.S. taxpayers to fund war games like Ulchi Freedom Shield, RIMPAC and Balikatan. These military exercises are conducted in “preparation” for a war with other countries in the area, such as China and Japan.

Fast noted that during the upcoming week, the United States and South Korean militaries were planning to hold “one of the largest annual war drills on earth.” This exercise is named Ulchi Freedom Shield.

During these drills, tens of thousands of troops are deployed to the border with the North, simulating an invasion. Fast said that these war games could quickly escalate to actual war if there is a simple misunderstanding by either side, and have a heavy psychological toll on the people of Korea, who fear an uncertain future.

The day after the protest, President Donald Trump announced a reduction of the scope of this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield, in apparent reaction to depleted U.S. military capacities stemming from the ongoing U.S. war on Iran.

As Naveen Borojerdi from MPAC put it, Korea is a “country that has paid a massive toll for its right to self-determination.”

A speaker from Anakbayan asked rhetorically, “For whom? For whom was the United States liberating countries across Asia? It was not for those people.”

Organizations were represented at the action, included About Face: Veterans Against the War, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Families Against Military Madness (FAMM), Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), Anakbayan Twin Cities, and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC).

#MinneapolisMN #MN #International #AntiWarMovement #Korea

Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, around 20 people gathered on a rainy afternoon in downtown Minneapolis to raise awareness about proposed mining in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by a company called Twin Metals.

Sophie Kampmeyer from the Climate Justice Committee told the crowd, “The proposed mines near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would be sulfide mines, a byproduct of which is sulfuric acid, AKA battery acid, polluting the lakes and rivers. As the acid makes its way through the environment, it leaches other toxic metals from the ground, including mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead. These contaminants would pollute crops and wildlife throughout the state,” adding that it would be, “permanent pollution for less copper and nickel than we’d get from recycling e-waste that already exists.”

Activists’ chants of, “When the water we drink is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, toxic mines have got to go!” echoed for blocks, including at the busy downtown farmers market, where activists handed out information to market-goers. Cars honked and people joined in chanting to show their support for protecting the Boundary Waters region.

Emma Scherrer from Minnesota Workers United, stated, “We cannot ignore the climate crisis for short-term profit. If we don't do something now, there won't be anything left to protect. The mining interests are pitting people who want good paying jobs against those of us that want clean water and clean air! Now I don't know about you, but I don't just want clean water and clean air or a good-paying job. I want all three. This is definitely possible.”

Ulysses Dolan from the AWC made the connection to environmental and anti-war fights around the globe. “The State Board of Investment is investing in companies that fuel the genocide in Palestine and Twin Metals. We need to call on our governor to divest!”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #BWCA #Mining #CJC

St. Paul, MN – Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) responded to the Legalization for All Network’s call to protest against Trump’s racist attacks on Haitian immigrants. Dozens of protesters gathered on the Marshall Avenue/Lake Street bridge at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5 to stand with the Haitian community against Trump’s latest racist anti- immigrant attack.

In Ohio, Hattian immigrants are being summoned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and are being forced to wear ankle monitors until their deportation hearing – or be deported immediately.

On June 25, the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides work authorization, travel permission and protection from deportation for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. This came after a far-right ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court (Mullin v. Doe), where six of the nine judges voted to allow Trump to terminate this status for the two immigrant communities.

Within a day, 300,000 Haitian and Syrian immigrants became undocumented and at risk for deportation.

Protesters held signs that read “We say no to Trump’s mass deportation of Haitian immigrants! End U.S. intervention in Haiti!” and waved as passing drivers honked, bikers rang their bells, and a runner clapped on her run in support.

The rally ended with a brief program where the crowd heard from Mira Altobell-Resendez, an organizer with MIRAC, told the crowd, “This most recent rug-pull, taking TPS away from workers and families who have been in the U.S. for years, has already resulted in thousands of Haitians in Ohio being put into deportation proceedings and forced to wear inhumane ankle monitors.”

Altobell-Resendez continued, “There is not a single person who benefits from mass deportations like these, or what took place in the Twin Cities during Metro Surge, except for the same people who always make money from human suffering: the white supremacist ruling class!” They ended with calling on Governor Tim Walz to “spend his last months in office fighting tooth and nail to create ICE-free zones and ban collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.”

WAMM holds a vigil on the Marshall/Lake bridge every Wednesday and this week’s action was co-hosted with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #Haiti #TPS #ICE