Newly disclosed internal records show the Department of Homeland Security ran a wide surveillance operation called "Operation Puppet Master" that sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of unions and left-leaning non-profits. Nearly 30 DHS investigative reports were released Thursday as part of a Department of Justice criminal case charging 15 Minneapolis protesters with a conspiracy to impede US immigration officers during the Trump administration’s surge in the region. The inquiry began in January to identify a "network of conspirators" organizing against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after community organizing grew in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The records show the government alleged ties between the protesters and large organizations including AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, the Minneapolis Federation of Educators, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, Democratic Socialists of America and Showing Up for Racial Justice, though none of those organizations have been charged. Civil rights groups say the documents fuel concerns the federal government is criminalizing lawful protest activity while labeling investigations as targeting "domestic terrorist financing." The DHS and the Department of Justice declined to comment in the reporting of the records.
