{"id":514,"date":"2026-06-17T15:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=514"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:38:16","slug":"minnesota-trade-unionists-are-among-the-federally-indicted-ice-observers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=514","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Read more Temporary Blocking of Idaho\u2019s Bathroom Ban Isn\u2019t Actually a Win for Trans Rights<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Minnesota trade unionists active in worker assemblies are among the 15 people indicted by the federal government as part of a sweeping crackdown on organizing in opposition to the ICE and Border Patrol since December 2025. Among a slew of other allegations, the cited some of the individuals\u2019 participation in assemblies of trade unionists and other workers held at the United Labor Centre in Minneapolis as evidence that the activists participated in a criminal conspiracy. <\/p>\n

All 15 of the people indicted are charged with \u201cconspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer,\u201d which activists describe as an effort to use draconian charges to crush Minnesota\u2019s widely celebrated organizing against the armed federal agents who descended on the state this past winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrade unionists active in worker assemblies are among those who were arrested,\u201d says Kieran Knutson, president of Communications Workers of America Local 7250. \u201cThe trade unionists I\u2019ve known for years are stand-up people who believe in solidarity. They believe an injury to one is an injury to all. They are outstanding union activists in their union and workplace, and I\u2019m proud to know all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcia Howard, the president of the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE) Local 59, confirmed that trade unionists are among those detained. \u201cI find it telling that they are going after unionists, including educators I know of right now, that they are going after workers. I\u2019m really pissed off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Howard is withholding the exact number of trade unionists and their union roles out of concern for their privacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is intended to make workers shy away from being vociferous in their opposition to state sponsored violence by saying things like, \u2018Fuck ICE and ICE out.\u2019 They want us to get to a point that we\u2019re scared to say the things we should be able to say, then fuck everything,\u201d Howard added. <\/p>\n

Later in the afternoon, MFE said in a statement, \u201cThis morning, DHS agents arrested a member of our union at her home.\u201d The statement added that \u201cthis administration and Justice Department have repeatedly misrepresented facts about the occupation and the tens of thousands of good neighbors who opposed it, so any allegations made against our member should be viewed in that light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, told Workday Magazine<\/em>, \u201cWorking people from all walks of life across Minneapolis and its suburbs stepped up for their neighbors throughout Trump\u2019s Operation Metro Surge. Tens of thousands of Minnesotans exercised their constitutional rights throughout this past winter \u2014 foundational American freedoms such as the rights to peaceably assemble and advocate for change. Today\u2019s federal indictments impacted several of our union members who used their voices alongside many other workers to call for an end to ICE\u2019s so-far unaccountable violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Feds Charge 15 Minnesotans With Conspiracy for Anti-ICE Protests<\/a><\/p>\n

At the AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis earlier this month, Minnesota\u2019s labor movement was honored for its robust organizing against ICE, which included participation in food distribution to members in hiding, rapid response networks, and a mass economic shutdown on January 23, under the banner of \u201cNo Work, No School, No Shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worker assemblies were part of this broader organizing landscape. Several of these gatherings have taken place since December 2025. Hundreds of workers, both union and non-union, joined together to discuss ways to organize against ICE, to build community and labor ties, and to debate resolutions on topics ranging from solidarity actions on May Day to US wars.<\/p>\n

Knutson describes them as \u201can attempt to create a democratic space for workers to be part of decision making about how the workers\u2019 movement participates in the anti-ICE resistance, and in the labor movement in general.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMost union members can go to their union meetings if their unions have meetings and participate this way, but this was a way of doing that across different unions, across different industries, across different trades, in a way that\u2019s directly democratic, to talk about and discuss and debate issues, you know, it wasn\u2019t a front group for any one political trend. A number of unions sponsored it.\u201d<\/p>\n

These latest federal arrests on first amendment protected activity are part of a broader attack on Trump\u2019s political enemies he has ramped up in recent months, with a specific focus on \u201cantifa,\u201d the \u201cleft,\u201d and advocates of the rights of transgender people.<\/p>\n

The Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 released a statement Tuesday afternoon condemning the crackdown: \u201cAs a union that responded to Operation Metro Surge by sharing information about how to protect immigrant rights, building mutual aid networks, advocating for ways to keep community safe by advocating that constitutional and statutory right of our students, their families and our members be observed in all instances, and engaging in peaceful protest, we see this action by the Department of Justice for what it is: another attempt to threaten Minnesotans into silence and complicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham also released a statement, proclaiming, \u201cThis past winter, the Trump administration tried to break Minnesotans\u2019 solidarity and basic sense of decency by flooding our state with armed agents. They failed. Now they are trying to break us in the courtroom. They will fail again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Artists Celebrate Removal of Trump\u2019s Name From Kennedy Center as a Step Forward<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These federal arrests are part of a broader attack on Trump\u2019s political enemies that he has ramped up in recent months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMinnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=514\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"These federal arrests are part of a broader attack on Trump\u2019s political enemies that he has ramped up in recent months.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=514\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T15:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Minnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T15:38:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514\"},\"wordCount\":939,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e4da21dd0a124891ce22f4280cebba57.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=514\",\"name\":\"Minnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers - 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