(The Lion) — Fifteen Antifa associates and members were indicted this week on federal conspiracy charges tied to riots in Minneapolis aimed at blockading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

The charging document alleges the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) hosted meetings where members discussed ways to more effectively coordinate violence against ICE and its agents.

The DSA includes among its most prominent members U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The DSA has not been accused of any crime.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the charges following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operation that resulted in 12 arrests within 24 hours. Two defendants remain at large. A third was already in federal custody on unrelated charges.

“Today’s announcement is the result of a thorough investigation into a deeply troubling trend: coordinated violence targeting federal law enforcement officers in an effort to cause chaos and impede law enforcement operations,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy of HSI St. Paul. “We have uncovered evidence of organized groups deliberately planning and executing criminal acts, including assaults, threats, destruction of government property and attempts to impede federal officers.”

Charges include conspiracy to impede federal officers, interstate stalking, solicitation to commit violence, assault on federal officers and destruction of government property, according to the DOJ.

The 94-page indictment also alleges the Democratic Socialists of America hosted an “after-action” meeting at its Twin Cities office following an alleged blockade of ICE facilities in order to coordinate future actions.

One participant, defendant Issac Sant of the Black Cat Workers Collective, called for “some sort of re-groupment meeting for revolutionary anarchists in the Twin Cities.”

Central to the case is a group called Direct Action Minnesota (DAMN), which describes itself as “a decentralized coalition of working-class people engaged in various forms of community defense against the current federal occupation happening within the wider metro area, and against state and far-right violence more broadly.”

The government said DAMN drew members from sub-groups such as the “Ray Rainbolt Memorial Shooting Club,” which affiliates with a range of anti-fascist organizations espousing communism and anarchy.

Prosecutors say DAMN built a surveillance operation targeting immigration agents that ran on Signal, the encrypted messaging app.

One group tracked agents’ government vehicles by license plate, logging when and where each vehicle was spotted and feeding that data into a “publicly searchable” database run with an outside group.

A second rolling database tracked which vehicles were active on a given day, according to prosecutors.

Members organized themselves into roles including dispatchers who relayed vehicle locations, commuters who followed agents in the field and co-pilots who stayed on the phone coordinating in real time, according to the indictment.

The indictment ties the network to two direct actions at the Whipple federal building on Jan. 23 and March 1, in which members deployed what they called hard and soft blockades, including vehicles, trailers and homemade shields, to physically block federal agents from reaching their offices.

Prosecutors allege one DAMN member, Natasha Rakotz, rammed her Honda Civic into an immigration officer’s vehicle after following him from the building.

Another member, William Morgan, allegedly confronted an agent during an active ICE operation, knocked notes from his hand and kicked a several-foot-long dent into a government vehicle.

“Deputies have been on the ground for the last few hours and made several attempts to ask protesters to unblock an access road,” said the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office during the January protests. “There have been ice chunks thrown at multiple vehicles, breaking windows. Deputies have given three dispersal orders for an unlawful protest.”

The case also names Kyle Wagner, who was arrested in February for allegedly doxxing a federal agent while wearing a sweatshirt reading “I’m Antifa!”

Wagner also allegedly made threats against ICE via video posted to social media.

“Get your f***ing guns and stop these f***ing people,” he said in a Jan. 24 video.

The government said DAMN later exported its tactics beyond Minnesota through what members called an “Anarchist Speaking Tour,” with stops in Chicago, Ann Arbor and Seattle.

At the Seattle event, defendant Cameron Kennedy reportedly described the burning of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct during the 2020 riots as “the happiest moment” of his life, while describing himself as a revolutionary anarchist.

Sant allegedly walked the audience through surveillance methods used against federal officers and has also been accused of stalking a federal agent.

Prosecutors say Sant drove a Hyundai Sonata and followed a federal immigration officer to Hudson, Wisconsin. County deputies stopped the car and identified him as the driver.

“We fully respect and defend the First Amendment right to peaceful protest,” McCarthy said. “However, when protest crosses the line into violence or criminal activity, it becomes unlawful and will not be tolerated.”

An email to the DSA from The Lion seeking comment on the allegations was not returned prior to publication.

List of defendants and charges according to the DOJ:

Emmett James Doyle, aka “Plotnikov,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Cameron Kennedy, aka “Cam,” “Olive Knite,” and “Knite,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Callum Robinet, aka “Juliet K,” “Juliet,” and “Cal,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Erik Davis, aka “Errico,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Brian Stillwell Apland, aka “Tiny,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Kyle Wagner, aka “Kaos,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, and interstate threats.

Hannah Margaret Van De Water Davis, aka “Gabriel Van De Water” and “Nube,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Treasure Cay Thoreson, aka “Schatzi,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Nathan Junho Kim, aka “Moon Bear,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Alec Stewart, aka “Mac,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Douglas Misterek, aka “Doug” and “D Munny Big Dog Orf Orf,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

Dustin Scott Beisell, aka “Sparky,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer.

William Morgan, aka “Willow” and “Willow Tree,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, and destruction of government property.

Natasha Rakotz, aka “Anuran,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer and assault on a federal officer.

Isaac Auman Sant, aka “Isaac Dalto” and “Ike,” is charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer and interstate stalking.