Minneapolis, MN — As the last Prairieland defendants were sentenced to extreme lengths of prison time in Texas today, the latest victims of Trump’s NSPM-7 political targeting appeared in a federal court in Minneapolis. Fifteen community activists facing federal conspiracy charges for their activism during the government’s deadly Operation Metro Surge pled not guilty this afternoon during their arraignment.

“It’s about quelling dissent in Minneapolis,” said healthcare worker and activist Isaac Sant to Unicorn Riot a week after his home was raided. “And it’s about coming after the movement that rose up against ICE during Metro Surge in December and January.”

The 36-year-old Sant, listed at the top of the indictment, said the charges are “a naked attempt to silence our voices, to squash dissent and to have a chilling effect on organizing here in the Twin Cities.” Which Sant noted, is “not going to work.”

The 94-page indictment unsealed on June 16 describes many of the defendants as “anarchists” and “antifascists,” both labeled as “terror groups” in the most recent White House counterterrorism documents.

The charges are a continuation of Trump and Stephen Miller’s vindictive domestic policies as federal agencies are directed to go after political opponents using the NSPM-7 directive and an executive order designating antifa as a domestic terrorist organization — despite there being no formal classification of antifa as a terror org. Antifa is an ideology against fascism and is short for anti-fascist.

Federal Indictment on Minnesota 15 Peddles DOJ ‘Antifa’ Conspiracy Angle After Raids

“With regards to NSPM-7, just know that these cases are going to continue. And while we may be anarchists, please don’t think that it’s going to stop there,” said Sant’s housemate Cal Robinet, who’s also one of the 15 indicted.

Speaking to UR, Robinet, a 37-year-old union electrician and activist, noted the Niemöller poem, First They Came, and said what the government is calling antifa is actually a “boogeyman that doesn’t exist” and they’re using that to go “after anybody who says no to them.”

“When they say we’re coming for anti-fascists, what they’re calling Antifa is a boogeyman that doesn’t exist. What they’re doing is they’re going after anybody who says no to them. And you should not be surprised when that starts applying to you.”

Responding to the deadly and racially-biased immigration enforcement of 4,000 federal agents occupying the metro area during the winter — the largest mass deployment of federal agents ever to take part in an immigration operation — countless thousands of community members across the Twin Cities organized themselves to protect their neighbors.

“I think it’s really important to point out that the retaliation that we’re seeing from the federal government isn’t just related to our speech, it’s related to the power that we have together,” Robinet said.

Unicorn Riot coverage of ICE In Minnesota 2025-2026

Several of the indicted are trade unionists and educators, a fact Robinet was quick to highlight. “It’s no secret that a lot of the people that were targeted are union organizers who are being charged for some of their alleged actions on [Jan. 23, 2026], the day of no work, no school, no shopping.”

Robinet and Sant shared their experience being raided. Robinet recalled how a Homeland Security media team recorded the arrest and the perp-walk into custody. They both gave their opinions on the indictment and the Prairieland sentencing. They also thanked the community for the “inspiring” support they’ve received — see their full transcripts below and videos above.

Robinet and Sant are both charged with felony counts of conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. Sant is additionally charged with felony interstate stalking for allegedly observing federal agents going into Wisconsin from the Whipple Federal Building.

Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz is presiding over the case. The day the indictment was unsealed, the government filed a ‘complex case’ motion asserting that they had more than 20 terabytes of evidence and needed more time to prepare their prosecution and release their discovery.

Yesterday, a joint response was filed by the defendants noting that the prosecution didn’t cite “any legal authority” in its motion that sought to “avoid its discovery obligations for 90 days.” Today in court, the judge did not grant the government’s motion and ordered the prosecutors to meet with the defense by July 10 to come up with a plan on how to handle the discovery and to submit a proposal by July 17.

Droves of federal prosecutors in Minnesota have quit over the U.S. government’s improper handling of immigration cases this year. Judges have admonished federal investigators and prosecutors in many of the cases, including the non-immigration cases being brought against U.S. residents.

In this year’s first federal conspiracy indictment in Minnesota over the January protest of an ICE field director at Cities Church in St. Paul, prosecutors were able to get the complex case motion passed but along with the investigators, they’ve been scolded by the judge over their motions and warrants.

Additionally, last week federal prosecutors were dealt a blow as the first case against a community member for standing up for immigrants in this new wave of immigration enforcement fell apart. Artist and activist Isa Lopez had five federal charges with a possibility of eight years in prison reduced to one misdemeanor and was sentenced to time served and a $25 fine.

Today, one of the Minnesota 15 defendants filed a motion to amend the release conditions that were imposed on the group, particularly the order that they cannot contact each other — which doesn’t apply to Sant and Robinet, who live together. In the motion, defense attorney Jordan Kushner noted, “this case should be recognized as the federal government’s extension of its repressive conduct from invasive and brutal actions in the community to weaponization of the legal system against those who dissent.”

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Full transcript of each interview:

Isaac Sant

“My name’s Isaac. I’m a 36 year old healthcare worker and an activist living here in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I was one of 15 people indicted on conspiracy charges for activity related to protesting ICE. They broke down this door. They broke into our garage. They, they dragged Cal out of bed in their underwear, and they took three cell phones and a computer out of my room. And then an hour later, they came and got me at my girlfriend’s house in Minneapolis. And when I was over there, I knew they were coming before they were there, not only because they had already taken my roommates, but because I heard the sound of whistles and her neighbors were outside already following them.

And I just want to say, that’s exactly what these charges are about. It’s not about conspiracy to impede. It’s not about interstate stalking. It’s not about any of that. It’s about quelling dissent in Minneapolis. And it’s about coming after the movement that rose up against ICE during Metro Surge in December and January. If the things that I’m accused of doing are part of a criminal conspiracy, then 350,000 people who participated in the resistance here would also have to be part of that conspiracy. This is a naked attempt to silence our voices, to squash dissent and to have a chilling effect on organizing here in the Twin Cities. And I’m here to tell you, it’s not going to work. People in the community here are smart. They’re resilient. They have an indomitable will. And I have every faith that they’re going to keep fighting. This is an attempt by the government to drive a wedge in between good protesters and bad protesters, and try to shave off the radical flank of the movement and paint us like we’re different from everybody else. But we’re not. There’s nothing that we’re accused of doing that hundreds of thousands of people here in Twin Cities didn’t do when these jack booted thugs were kicking in our doors and kidnapping our immigrant neighbors, they took one of my coworkers from the gas station while she was pumping gas, a grandmother of three. And she’s still in detention in El Paso, Texas right now.

So my arraignment is going to be July 1st. I understand I’m going to go in there. I’m going to plead not guilty as a condition of my release. The judge put a no contact order on us, so I’m not allowed to talk to any of my co-defendants with the exception of Cal, because we’re housemates. So obviously I can’t be as involved as I would like in, in coordinating my own defense, as we’re only allowed to talk through our lawyers. Right now, we have a strong support committee. We have, you know, hundreds of people behind us who are supporting us and are doing work behind the scenes. My role right now is just to to keep my head up, to stay in solidarity with my co-defendants. I plan to refuse any plea deals that aren’t offered to everybody. This is not a normal criminal trial. This is a political case. This is political repression against organizers. And this is a case that’s going to be won in the political realm.

So the context for what’s happening to us here is that it’s happening at the same time as a, a national wave of political repression. All of these NSPM-7, and so-called Antifa cases, are a naked attempt to silence dissent and attack the regime’s political opponents. The FBI has been visiting people who are at Delaney Hall. We’ve got the Spokane Three case. Charges were recently dropped against the Broadview Six, but the ruling in the first NSPM-7 case, the Prairieland case in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Judge Pittman there, I understand said out loud, ‘I am I’m giving all of you the the longest possible sentence to send a message to anyone else who might share your political beliefs,’ so they’re not even trying to dress it up as anything else. This is like naked, blatant political repression. We are living in an authoritarian country now.

Look, if you want to support us, the best thing you can do for me and my co-defendants, more so than protesting for us, moreso than donating money to our fundraiser, moreso than any of that, is just to keep doing what you’re doing. Stay out there, keep doing all the legal observing against ICE that is lawful and is effective and is the reason they’re cracking down on us in the first place. It’s to stop you from doing that. So I want you to get out there, keep doing what you’re doing. If we allow these charges to have their intended chilling effect, then ICE and Homeland Security will have won. And we can’t allow that to happen. We need our supporters to stay out there and stay active and keep documenting what these fascist psychopaths are doing in our streets.

I just want to say we’ve been really humbled and honored by the outpouring of support from the community. Our our fridge is, like, chock full right now because our neighbors keep keep delivering groceries here. There are people here fixing our door right now. But all of it has just been a reminder that that the the spirit animating the Twin Cities resistance has never been about radicalism. It’s always been about simple, everyday neighborliness. That’s why people resisted back during Metro Surge. And that’s why they’ve got our backs now. So to all of them, thank you.”

Isaac Sant, one of 15 activists indicted on charges of conspiring to impede or injure federal officers

Cal Robinet

“Hi, I’m Cal. I’m 37. I’m a union low voltage electrician. I’m one of the organizers that was caught up in this unjust roundup of 15 people who are doing their best to protect their communities from the federal occupation and Operation Metro Surge. It’s no secret that a lot of the people that were targeted are union organizers who are being charged for some of their alleged actions on the day of no work, no school, no shopping. I think it’s really important to point out that the retaliation that we’re seeing from the federal government isn’t just related to our speech, it’s related to the power that we have together.

It’s one of those things that it’s so inspiring to see, and it’s something that we’re continuing to see with people supporting us after the horrific raid. So, I was asleep at six in the morning. I heard a crash, and then I heard some yelling. I thought it was just a cat that had knocked over a glass or something and someone yelled, but the yelling kept happening. So I walk out to my front door where it comes from, and then I hear, this is the raid get on the floor. And I see several people with assault rifles, suppressors, helmets, body armor, full military gear, all pointing guns at my head. So I get on the ground, they cuff me and they tell me to walk over to them across the broken glass. I told them I can’t walk across that broken glass, so they throw me a pair of slippers that aren’t mine.

And at that moment, I see the Homeland Security media crew. So they had a media crew there filming me half naked, trying to make their little anti-antifa video. One disgusting little creep just zooming in on me, zooming in on the violence. They opened up every container in my house, threw some stuff on the floor. They messed with my partner’s lingerie. You all know this is a house of trans refuge. And they targeted this house specifically because transgender people are a designated enemy of the state right now. And the way that they mess with my partner’s lingerie was disgusting. The way that they held my young roommates at gunpoint is disgusting. The way that they dragged me out in the rain in my underwear was disgusting. They sent helicopters after me. I had only heard one, but I heard one of the agents say that there were two.

Eventually they threw me some clothes and told me that I was being charged with federal conspiracy to impede. They brought me to jail and again, film crew perp walking me the whole time. I noticed a bunch of other people in jail that I’m familiar with. And not going to lie. Spending some time in a cell with your good friends could be a worse day. You know, there was singing, there was jokes, there was laughing. Keeping your spirits up is really important in a time like this, you know, not just for the defendants, but for everyone around you. These charges are a joke. There’s nothing that we’ve done that you know, thousands upon thousands of people haven’t done as well. These are all lawfully protected activities. And the reason that they’re throwing the book at us is because this is a political case to them. that we are enemies of state for our political beliefs, for activities as union organizers and for existing as queer people in this world.

So those of you may not be familiar. Prosecutor attempted to hold us in jail until the trial and the entire courtroom laughed at her, and she got extremely tilted. And the judge got very angry. But it just kind of goes to show you the level of absurdity of the charges that we’re facing. And the biggest thing that I think people need to keep in mind right now is that the reason they’re doing this is that they want you to be scared. Our tactics are working. They know it, and they’re on their back foot and they’re trying to make a big show of this. It’s the same reason they took all that footage of me, right? They’re trying to get me looking scared. And I’m not scared. I’m not scared of these charges. I’m not scared of these monsters. We can beat them. That’s why they’re acting this way. Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.

I think that more than anything, I want people right now to double down on their efforts. Double down on your mutual aid. Double down on your ICE watching. Double down on commuting. Double down on standing up for your neighbors. Keep those whistles on you. Keep calling people. Keep building friends. You know, the people that have been the most effective during this occupation are the people that have the most networks that they can tap into together.

You know, one of the most inspiring stories that I remember hearing is when ICE was trying to infiltrate
the school pickup network so they could abduct children that are walking out of school. Is that the parents and teachers and the teachers union worked together to build the safety system for it, and some of the parents didn’t like the high vis vests. And so a knitting club got together to knit hats for all the all the Safe Watchers. And then a hacker club got together to tell all of these teachers what it looks like when somebody is trying to infiltrate your group, how to spot something like that. So all of these groups and networks coming together to make one big picture is what makes us the most safe. And that’s what I want to keep seeing from people. Always remember, you know, our revenge will be the laughter of our children. That means our immigrant children. That means our trans children. That means our refugee children. You know, those that don’t recognize that children belong to all of this are the worst monsters in this world. I think that the Prairieland sentence is something that the regime was able to push through in a favorable court, in a horrible situation that they’re going to try to use to intimidate. But Minnesota is not Prairieland. These bastards kicked a hornet’s nest, and they have no idea the lion that they’ve awakened.

With regards to NSPM-7, just know that these cases are going to continue. And while we may be anarchists, please don’t think that it’s going to stop there. You know that this is just a scapegoat to try and chip off one edge of the movement, much like that Niemöller poem. You know, first they came for X and then we came for Y. Know that that’s going on today, that when they say we’re coming for anti-fascists, what they’re calling Antifa is a boogeyman that doesn’t exist. What they’re doing is they’re going after anybody who says no to them. And you should not be surprised when that starts applying to you. It’s interesting to me that they put opposition to the U.S. government in part of the conspiracy, because to them, I could see why that would be a major crime. Because they want obedience at all costs. They love it. They just love that shit. But we’re free people. We’re free people, and we do as we please. And we love as we please, and we live as we please. You know, to live and love we must fight. And that’s the situation that we’re put in now. We’re standing up for any immigrant, any person of color or anyone who stands in their way, that’s who they’re coming after. And that’s who we need to be protecting right now.”

Cal Robinet, one of 15 activists indicted on charges of conspiring to impede or injure federal officers

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Click the image to see all UR coverage of federal law enforcement operations in MN.

Watch Unicorn Riot’s videos from ICE in Minnesota in playlist below.

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