Minnesota Charges 15 With Conspiring to Impede ICE, Putting Professor Erik Davis at Risk of 6 Years
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 28
Minnesota Charges 15 With Conspiring to Impede ICE, Putting Professor Erik Davis at Risk of 6 Years
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 28
Summary
A 94-page federal indictment charges Erik Davis and 14 others with conspiring to impede ICE in Minnesota, with Davis arrested in June and facing up to six years in prison.
Prosecutors say the case rests largely on Signal chats, meetings and protest planning after January ICE raids, alleging Davis helped facilitate an emergency meeting on "resistance to ICE" and urged people to attend demonstrations.
The indictment does not accuse Davis of violence, specific protest actions or involvement in March and May incidents tied to other defendants; it also alleges no specific injuries to ICE officers in the broader conspiracy case.
Eight co-defendants are tied to a 1 March blockade at a federal building, while others face separate allegations including urging people to get guns, following an agent and damaging government property; Natasha Rakotz could face 26 years if assault charges stick.
Civil-rights advocates and defendants say the prosecution is using vague "antifa" associations and broad conspiracy theories to criminalize anti-deportation organizing, even as similar protest cases have faltered elsewhere.