Story perspectives

Minnesota AG challenges DHS warrantless surveillance warrants as unconstitutional

8/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

DHS agents surveilled activist groups, labor unions, churches and Minnesota organizations during the 2026 Operation Metro Surge.
The probes “Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield” targeted “violent opportunists” and used hidden microphones, license-plate tracking and AI tools to build dossiers.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and defense attorney Kevin Riach called the warrantless infiltration unconstitutional, filed a 26-page motion for release of surveillance data, and urged First Amendment protection.

History

Historical Context

In 1956 the FBI launched COINTELPRO, a covert counter-intelligence program that infiltrated civil-rights, anti-war and Black nationalist groups. The effort, which consumed about 0.2 % of the Bureau’s workload and ended in 1971, sparked the 1975 Church Committee hearings that imposed oversight. Today DHS’s Operation Metro Surge, criticized by Attorney General Keith Ellison, echoes those tactics in Minnesota.

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Story summary

DHS agents surveilled activist groups, labor unions, churches and Minnesota organizations during the 2026 Operation Metro Surge.
The probes “Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield” targeted “violent opportunists” and used hidden microphones, license-plate tracking and AI tools to build dossiers.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and defense attorney Kevin Riach called the warrantless infiltration unconstitutional, filed a 26-page motion for release of surveillance data, and urged First Amendment protection.

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