On June 12th two Cop City activists were charged with arson in Atlanta, Georgia as “part of a nationwide National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 initiative,” and “led by the investigative and prosecutorial Joint Task Force Vanguard.” And on June 16th, Daniel Rosen, Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor revealed that the “Minnesota 15” had been investigated by JTF Vanguard and charged according to directives of NSPM-7.
Ken Klippenstein reported on the memo last September and warned that NSPM-7 would allow federal agencies to use sweeping post 9/11 counter-terrorism powers to investigate citizens and criminalize first amendment activities of those who dissent against the Trump regime. A few of the “thought-crimes” that NSPM-7 directs federal agencies to investigate include:
anti-Americanism,
anti-capitalism,
anti-Christianity,
support for the overthrow of the United States Government,
extremism on migration,
extremism on race,
extremism on gender
hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family,
hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and
hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.
The Infrastructure to Persecute Left-Wing Groups & Individuals
In his press conference, Rosen revealed that the DOJ has placed “coordinators” in U.S. attorneys offices around the country and established Joint Task Force Vanguard to pursue NSPM-7 cases.
The Justice Department has started to establish a bureaucratic architecture to prosecute cases involving that directive, putting “coordinators” in U.S. attorneys offices. In his news conference, Mr. Rosen revealed that the new case had been investigated by a group called Joint Task Force Vanguard, which appears to be dedicated to pursuing inquiries into left-wing groups and individuals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/minnesota-immigration-charges-antifa.html
1st Amendment Criminalized
Last week 15 Minneapolis activists were charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. Glaringly, there were no specific allegations of violence in the indictment. The bulk of the indictment focused on Signal chat messages, meetings, and social media posts. Rosen was asked in his press conference whether the protestors hurt anyone and he responded, “whether or not they actually, at the end of the day, caused bodily harm is not the measure of whether or not they committed a serious federal crime.”
During his press conference Rosen displayed Facebook and Instagram posts as evidence that the Minneapolis 15 intended to use violence against federal officers. One post said, “we must become ungovernable.”
“Anyone who says that we should become ungovernable, that violence is somehow sometimes justified, I think is irresponsible … but it is politically protected speech,” said Richard Painter, George W. Bush’s former chief White House ethics lawyer. “At a certain point, what you’re doing is using the criminal law to suppress free speech.”
Again, the federal indictment does not allege that the defendants committed any specific acts of violence toward law enforcement officers.
Oh the horror - soft security utilizing “de-escalation techniques” and practicing “de-arrest tactics!”
Conspiracy
In May the “Spokane three” were found guilty of conspiracy charges over a June 11th, 2025 ICE protest. They now face up to six years in prison and $250,000 in fines. That day former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart put out a call on Facebook for a protest to stop ICE from removing two Venezuelan migrants who were in the country legally.
Hundreds of community members showed up and 30 were arrested that day. The very next day the DOJ sent an email to 93 U.S. attorneys ordering them to prioritize cases against people protesting ICE and to ensure the cases were publicized.
Richard Barker, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington resigned before the indictments were filed saying he didn’t believe the indictments were warranted.
“Usually if a protest gets out of hand and people are hurt or property is hurt, you see charges based on that. They’re not going after people based on specific harm done. They’re stretching conspiracy charges to target protesters and people who organize protests.” Mary Fan, former federal prosecutor and University of Washington law professor.
The pattern is clear. Last October six protestors in Chicago, the “Broadview six” were indicted on conspiracy charges for their part in protesting ICE outside the ICE Broadview facility near Chicago. All of their charges were finally dropped in May.
The federal government is using conspiracy to indict people for their 1st amendment protected activities and we can expect more investigations and indictments to come out of NSPM-7 and JTF Vanguard.
Support The Minneapolis 15 and Spokane 3
We need to give every indicted activist our full support. Stop this now before it can build momentum. If not then one day we will be the ones indicted for our voices of dissent.
And finally, be smart about what you post! Not everything needs to be said online!
Legal defense fund for Minneapolis 15: https://chuffed.org/project/186570-minnesota-15-legal-defense-fund
Support the Spokane 3: https://pjals.org/spokane3/
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These charges will drop just like every charge the DOJ brings. NSPM-7 is an EO which is not law, conspiracy and white. Christian nationalism.
The protests are working. They are scared. Keep it up. I will donate to the funds. Don’t post anything on FB, or x. Be smart about what and where you post.