When anti-ICE activists
rallied against the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in Minneapolis, many relied on the encrypted messaging app Signal for secure communications. In activist chats and quickly established ICE-tracking groups, locals used Signal to keep tabs on federal agents patrolling their communities.
When the Department of Homeland Security
announced
this week the arrest of 15 alleged “anti-ICE rioters” in Minnesota, it pointed directly at their Signal chats.
The
indictment
is in large part built upon on conversations from more than a dozen Signal groups, citing more than 100 specific messages. The case is a stark reminder that using an encrypted messaging platform like Signal is not in and of itself a magic bullet to safeguard communications. It also raises the question: How did Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
Homeland Security Investigations
unit gain access to all of these communications in the first place?
The indictment doesn’t provide a clear answer. But sprinkled throughout the document are clues that suggest that law enforcement may have gained access to the physical devices of some of those indicted.
Marine Detained in Minneapolis Says Feds Copied His Phone Without a Warrant
The indictment singles out its targets for their alleged participation in local ICE
rapid response networks
, where volunteers
monitor and report the presence
of federal agents in their communities by flagging details such as the
license plate numbers
of vehicles used by immigration authorities. ICE watchers in Minnesota have been met with
intimidation
from immigration authorities amid the national outcry following the killings of
Alex Pretti
and
Renee Good
as they observed the actions of immigration authorities.
The 15 people named in the latest indictment are all charged with “conspiracy to impede or injure an officer,” with some facing additional charges like “solicitation to commit a crime of violence” and “d
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