Operation Metro Surge: 'Minnesota 15' seek broader DHS surveillance records in federal case
Defense lawyers for the "Minnesota 15" asked a federal judge in Minneapolis on Thursday, August 27, 2026, to compel DHS to disclose surveillance and facial-recognition records from Operation Metro Surge.[1]
Attorney Kevin Riach, representing defendant Isaac Sant, argued the request at a hearing before U.S. District Judge David Schultz, who said he will issue an order at an unspecified time.[1] DHS declined to comment, and Sant and defense lawyer Jordan Kushner accused the agency of using Metro Surge as a pretext for broad spying on Twin Cities residents and civic groups.[1]
Operation Metro Surge ran from December 4, 2025, through mid-February 2026 and deployed about 3,000 federal immigration agents. Court filings say Homeland Security Investigations used the Clearview AI facial-recognition tool to build visual profiles of protesters, including images tied to defendant Isaac Sant.[2] Attorneys say a photo of Sant returned a dozen images scraped from news sites and social media, including photos of unrelated people.[2] Riach's motion argues those misidentified pictures are now "inextricably linked" to Sant inside DHS internal databases.[2]
Initial reporting focused narrowly on facial-recognition use and misidentifications, highlighting civil liberties concerns from groups such as the ACLU of Minnesota.[2] Subsequent filings and reports broadened the picture, showing undercover DHS entries into churches, attendance at organizing meetings and an alleged wired recording of a May self-defense class inside University Baptist Church.[3]
Federal prosecutors indicted the 15 defendants in June on a conspiracy charge; all have pleaded not guilty.[1] Defense lawyers say they need records showing how widely DHS used surveillance tools during Metro Surge before trial, and Judge Schultz will rule on that discovery request.[1]
The mainstream summary primarily focuses on the legal proceedings surrounding the Minnesota 15, particularly the request for surveillance records. However, it overlooks the extensive scale of Operation Metro Surge, which involved approximately 3,000 federal immigration agents and resulted in over 4,000 arrests and more than 3,500 detentions. This significant data underscores the operation's broad impact, which extends beyond individual cases to encompass systemic issues within federal immigration enforcement. The economic ramifications are also notable; Minneapolis updated its estimate of local costs from Operation Metro Surge to nearly $700 million, reflecting lost wages and business revenue, a detail absent from the mainstream account that emphasizes the legal aspects over community consequences.
Furthermore, while the summary mentions civil liberties concerns, it does not capture the depth of allegations regarding DHS's tactics, such as undercover operations in churches and attempts to incite violence during community meetings. Social media discussions reveal that these actions have led to accusations of contempt for violating court orders, indicating a troubling pattern of federal overreach that the mainstream narrative fails to fully address. This broader context highlights a growing distrust in federal law enforcement, as communities feel increasingly targeted and surveilled, a sentiment echoed in recent studies on the effects of federal enforcement practices on local trust and engagement.
Show source details & analysis (4 sources)
📊 Relevant Data
Operation Metro Surge deployed approximately 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota starting in December 2025, conducted over 4,000 arrests, and detained more than 3,500 people before drawing down in mid-February 2026.
A timeline of Operation Metro Surge; Over 3,500 people were detained during Operation Metro Surge — Minnesota Reformer
Minneapolis updated its estimate of local economic costs from Operation Metro Surge to nearly $700 million by June 2026, including $607 million in lost wages and business revenue.
Minneapolis updates estimate for cost of Operation Metro Surge to $700 million — Washington Examiner
The conspiracy charge against the Minnesota 15 is under 18 U.S.C. § 372, which prohibits conspiring to prevent or impede federal officers by force, intimidation, or threat and carries a maximum penalty of six years imprisonment.
18 U.S.C. § 372 (2024) - Conspiracy to impede or injure officer — Justia
📌 Key Facts
- Court filings show DHS/Homeland Security Investigations used the Clearview AI facial recognition tool during Operation Metro Surge to compile visual profiles of protestors, including defendant Isaac Sant (Clearview AI).
- Investigators fed a photo of Isaac Sant into Clearview AI, which returned at least a dozen images scraped from news sites and social media, including bar photos, protest signs and images of an unrelated man, his pregnant wife and young daughter (Isaac Sant).
- Attorney Kevin Riach’s motion says those misidentified photos are now 'inextricably linked' with Sant inside DHS internal databases and asks the court to compel the government to disclose how broadly facial recognition was used in Metro Surge (Attorney Kevin Riach).
- Court filings allege undercover DHS agents repeatedly entered University Baptist Church between April and June, including at least one wired, recording visit to a May 28 self-defense class, and the church says those entries violated a February order designating the church a 'protected area' that barred immigration enforcement (University Baptist Church).
- Filings also describe undercover attendance at a December organizing meeting inside First Universalist Church Minneapolis led by Sunrise Movement, which church leaders say they learned about only after the document release (First Universalist Church Minneapolis).
- Fifteen defendants dubbed the 'Minnesota 15' were federally indicted in June on a charge of 'conspiracy to impede federal officers' during Operation Metro Surge, and all have pleaded not guilty (Minnesota 15).
- At a hearing in Minneapolis on Thursday, August 27, 2026, defense lawyer Kevin Riach argued a motion seeking additional surveillance-related discovery; U.S. District Judge David Schultz heard arguments and said he will issue an order at an unspecified time, while DHS declined to comment on the investigation or its methods (U.S. District Judge David Schultz).
- The ACLU of Minnesota condemned the reported facial-recognition use, saying the revelations show how the technology enables warrantless dragnet surveillance of whole communities once adopted (ACLU of Minnesota).
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Fifteen defendants, dubbed the 'Minnesota 15', were federally indicted in June for 'conspiracy to impede federal officers' during Operation Metro Surge and have all pleaded not guilty.
- Defense attorney Kevin Riach, representing defendant Isaac Sant, argued a motion Thursday in Minneapolis federal court seeking additional surveillance-related discovery from the federal government.
- U.S. District Judge David Schultz heard arguments and plans to issue an order on the discovery motion, with timing unspecified.
- Defendant Isaac Sant and defense lawyer Jordan Kushner publicly accused DHS of using Operation Metro Surge as a pretext for broad spying on Twin Cities residents and civic groups.
- DHS declined to comment on the ongoing investigation and its investigative methods.
- Court filings now allege undercover DHS agents repeatedly entered University Baptist Church in Minneapolis between April and June, including at least one wired, recording visit to a May 28 self-defense class in the church basement.
- A Massachusetts federal judge had already designated University Baptist Church a 'protected area' in February, barring immigration enforcement there, and the church now argues the undercover entries violated that order.
- Filings describe undercover attendance at a December organizing meeting inside First Universalist Church Minneapolis led by Sunrise Movement, which church leaders say they only learned about after last week’s document release.
- University Baptist Church and other churches are asking the court to compel disclosure of all DHS reports involving UBC, and at least one UBC leader calls the undercover presence a 'complete violation of our sacred space.'
- Court filings show DHS/Homeland Security Investigations used the Clearview AI facial recognition tool during Operation Metro Surge to compile visual profiles of protestors, including defendant Isaac Sant.
- Investigators fed a photo of Sant into Clearview AI, which returned at least a dozen images scraped from news sites and social media, including bar photos, protest signs, and images of a completely unrelated man, his pregnant wife, and young daughter.
- Attorney Kevin Riach’s motion argues these misidentified photos are now ‘inextricably linked’ with Sant inside DHS internal databases, and he asks the court to compel the government to disclose how broadly facial recognition was used in Metro Surge.
- The article notes there are at least two known instances of facial-recognition use during Metro Surge but that the government has not disclosed how many people were affected, for what purpose the photos were collected, or how they have been used.
- ACLU of Minnesota publicly condemned the practice, saying the revelations show how facial recognition enables warrantless dragnet surveillance of whole communities once it is adopted.