Here’s Who’s Behind Minneapolis ICE Resistance Movement: Report
Radical left-wing activist networks — including organizations backed by progressive billionaire George Soros — are playing a central role in organizing and fueling the anti-ICE protests that have erupted across Minnesota, according to reporting from the New York Post.
One of the primary groups involved is Indivisible Twin Cities, which brands itself as a grassroots volunteer organization and has helped coordinate multiple demonstrations opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state. The protests intensified this week after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed during an ICE enforcement action on Wednesday, after authorities say she attempted to run over a federal agent with her vehicle.
Public records show that Soros’ Open Society Foundations funneled $7,850,000 to the Indivisible Project — the Washington, D.C.-based parent organization — between 2018 and 2023. The group openly describes its mission as defeating the “Trump agenda” and has been a major organizing force behind nationwide protests, including last year’s demonstrations supporting Venezuela and the so-called “No Kings” protests targeting President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
While Indivisible Twin Cities has been active on the ground in Minnesota, the group does not disclose its leadership on its website. Other activist organizations involved include the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR’s Minnesota chapter, has repeatedly spoken out against ICE at protests.
“A young observer killed in the line of observing, we believe in a peaceful manner. They are lying, as you hear today. They already shared lies about what took place,” Hussein said through a megaphone at an anti-ICE demonstration on Wednesday.
Left-wing activists and sympathetic media outlets have described Good as a “legal observer” during the ICE operation at her residence. However, the New York Post has reported that Good, who relocated from Colorado to Minnesota last year, was an outspoken anti-ICE activist and a member of “ICE Watch,” a network dedicated to disrupting ICE raids in Minneapolis.
Another key figure tied to the protests is Nekima Levy Armstrong, founder of the Racial Justice Network. Social media posts indicate that the Minnesota-based lawyer and civil rights activist has helped organize the so-called “legal observers” who travel across the city to record and interfere with federal enforcement actions. Armstrong has also promoted protests and vigils online and was a prominent organizer during the George Floyd riots that engulfed Minneapolis in May 2020.
Following Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s announcement this week that he will not seek re-election, Armstrong characterized the decision as a “retreat” tied to the state’s massive welfare fraud scandal.
“When Democrats respond to bad-faith attacks by retreating, they don’t just lose candidates,” Armstrong wrote in a Facebook post.
“They legitimize the tactic. They teach voters that propaganda works, that cruelty carries no cost, and that marginalized communities can be used as political weapons without consequence. Whatever the intentions, the cumulative effect is strategic capitulation.”
Another organizer, Edwin Torres DeSantiago, leads the Immigrant Defense Network, an umbrella organization representing more than 90 nonprofits and religious groups focused on advancing immigrant advocacy. DeSantiago, who was born in El Salvador, is the first undocumented immigrant to earn a doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
After Good’s death, DeSantiago accused President Trump of spreading “terror and chaos” in Minneapolis.
Legal scrutiny surrounding the incident may extend beyond the deceased activist. Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said Monday that Good’s spouse could potentially face criminal exposure related to the Jan. 7 confrontation with ICE agents.
Appearing on Fox & Friends, Jarrett told co-host Lawrence Jones that Rebecca Good could be investigated for offenses such as aiding and abetting if evidence shows she encouraged or assisted efforts to obstruct federal law enforcement.
Jarrett suggested the conduct could rise to “aiding and abetting fleeing police with a domestic terrorism motive,” depending on intent and corroborating evidence.
As federal investigations continue under President Trump’s second term, the growing web of radical activist groups, foreign-funded nonprofits, and coordinated protest movements is drawing renewed scrutiny from lawmakers and law enforcement officials alike.