It was just after noon on a Monday in Minneapolis and dozens of anti–Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activists were on a joint call on Signal, an encrypted messaging app. A woman was describing a Nissan she’d been trailing on Hiawatha Avenue when a user named “Chickpea” interrupted.
“Folks at 35th and Park report that ICE hit a man with their vehicle,” Chickpea said, breathless. In the background, I heard a cacophony of whistles, jeers, and sirens.
Suddenly, two different Signal chats lit up, notifying hundreds of members of a large ICE presence of “at least 20 agents” at East 35th Street and Park Avenue. Soon after, one ICE watcher called in to report that at least 200 observers had turned up to witness the scene.
“Yeah, let’s not crowd that anymore,” said a dispatcher going by the username “John Longpants,” instead directing the caller to 35th and Columbus.
In the last six weeks, Minneapolis has become the site of the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Thousands of city residents have responded by joining various Signal groups whose main purpose is to find and disrupt ICE.
