ALSO SEE: Protests Follow After 15 Minnesotans Charged with Anti-ICE Conspiracy

U.S. prosecutors in Minnesota on Tuesday announced charges against 15 people they say conspired to "violently oppose immigration law enforcement," though U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen failed to describe a single example of injuries to federal agents when repeatedly questioned.

The charges stem from a 94-page indictment. A U.S. attorney said the goal of the protests was violent in nature and that the defendants were charged not for what they said, but for what they did.

Twelve of the 15 people were arrested during raids by Homeland Security Investigations Tuesday morning, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said. One was already in custody on different charges, and two more remain at large. All of them are from the Twin Cities area, according to officials.

The individuals face charges including conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer and destruction of government property, Rosen said.

While Rosen made multiple references to "violence" by those charged, when repeatedly asked about specific injuries federal agents suffered — or even the number of agents injured — he did not offer any examples.

However, during the announcement, the U.S. attorney played a social media video in which a man identified as Kyle Wagner, one of the charged protesters, is seen wearing a bulletproof vest and discussing abandoning peaceful protests.

"We are not talking about peaceful protest anymore, we are not talking about polite conversations anymore," Wagner said in the video.

In a separate clip, Wagner told viewers to "get your guns and stop these" people, using profanity in both instances. The U.S. attorney directly referenced that language at the announcement.

According to Rosen, those charged were connected to a group called Direct Action Minnesota, which his office previously said was a "Minneapolis-based antifa group." Antifa, which is short for anti-fascist, is an umbrella term for a decentralized movement of mostly left-wing activists who oppose White supremacy, autocracy and other fascist ideals. In 2025, President Trump signed an executive order labeling the movement a "domestic terrorist organization."

Also on Tuesday morning, the Immigration Defense Network said a constitutional observer's home in south Minneapolis was raided by federal law enforcement and resulted in an arrest. It is unclear if the raid and arrest are connected to the U.S. Attorney's announcement.

On Monday, the government dismissed its case against a different protester charged with impeding federal agents during January's ICE surge. The dismissal order from the judge pointed to a social media post from then-Attorney General Pam Bondi that identified the defendant and 15 other arrested protesters by name.

"In addition to violating the Court's sealing order, the Government also likely violated several Department of Justice policies," the judge wrote in part.

When asked what makes the latest slate of indictments different than other cases that have been dropped, Rosen said he doesn't think any cases have "failed in any way."

"Read the indictment and you'll understand the magnitude of this case," Rosen said. "You watch how this case plays out, you watch how the evidence plays out and the evidence will prove it all out."

Joseph Thompson, who held the U.S. attorney job before Rosen, said he does not understand Tuesday's decision.

"I think most people, on both of the sides of the political aisle, viewed [Metro Surge] as a disaster for the administration," Thompson told the Wall Street Journal. "Why you would want to go back and re-litigate this is beyond me."

Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, activists and officials pushed back against the charges. Protesters rallied for hours, with WCCO crews witnessing law enforcement use non-lethal or less-lethal munitions against demonstrators, including both tear gas and pepper spray. The crowd chanted as, one by one, the defendants were released back into the public.

Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong – who was herself arrested following a protest at a Twin Cities church – and Minneapolis City Council member Jason Chavez criticized prosecutors, with a civil rights attorney arguing the case amounted to targeting constitutionally protected speech.

"Now the government is using its power — its unjustified power that is illegitimate — to try and persecute the people that they have identified who were most involved in organizing the resistance," the attorney said.

Cameron Kennedy, one of the defendants, said the evidence against him was "incredibly flimsy."

Prosecutors pointed to a statement Kennedy made describing the burning of Minneapolis' Third Precinct as "the happiest moment of my life." In another post he made, they say he wrote "You will never win with nonviolence."

Kennedy denied the allegations and called the case political.

"If you've protested the war or ICE, protested anything in the city, you are running the risk of political reprisal," Kennedy told WCCO.

Defense attorney Bruce Nestor, who represents one of the defendants, acknowledges there were demonstrations and blockades.

"That happened, but it wasn't violent and it wasn't designed to assault law enforcement," Nestor said. "This is legitimate political activity; neighbors protecting neighbors."

Earlier this year, when the Trump administration targeted Minnesota with what it called the largest federal deployment of law enforcement in United States history, federal agents shot and killed two Twin Cities residents and wounded another. Rosen said Tuesday that once federal investigations into the killings are complete, "we will not undercharge, we will not overcharge, but we will pursue federal prosecution in the manner that the evidence dictates."

During Operation Metro Surge, clashes between protesters and federal agents were a near-daily sight on the streets of Minneapolis and at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's local headquarters.

Two ICE agents have been charged at the state level for their alleged actions during the surge — one for pulling a gun on two people on a Twin Cities highway, and another for shooting a Venezuelan man through a door.