An anarchist website known for promoting anti-government activity is now a key focus of a federal conspiracy case against a suspected antifa cell in Minnesota.
A newly unsealed June 11 indictment targeting an alleged scheme to obstruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement repeatedly cites material from CrimethInc, an anonymous forum posting calls to action or documenting “resistance” actions such as riots. The Department of Justice referenced two January articles allegedly written by defendant Isaac Sant that bragged about how law enforcement “lost control of” an area in Minneapolis, as well as how rioters formed street barricades and set property on fire. The indictment also mentions a nationwide “Anarchist Speaking Tour” that CrimethInc organized from March to April, which reflected on how agitators “thwarted” ICE enforcement in Minnesota, according to the group.
“People will remember tonight as the opening salvo of the people’s counterattack against a fascist invasion,” boasted Sant’s alleged article from Jan. 15.
The 15 defendants are charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation to commit a violent crime, interstate threats, interstate stalking, assaulting a federal officer, and destroying government property. Defendants Sant, Callum Robinet, William Morgan, and Cameron Kennedy allegedly participated in the CrimethInc speaking tour that law enforcement infiltrated. The case shows how radical leftists’ common strategy of using public sites to organize and inspire their movement backfired as it became evidence in a Trump administration probe.
CrimethInc did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner. Defense attorneys for Sant, Morgan, Robinet, and Kennedy also did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
“One of the 15 defendants in Minnesota indicted on ‘Antifa’ charges for allegedly standing up to ICE is simply accused of writing an article we published about the murder of Renee Good,” CrimethInc said in a Monday Instagram post, referencing an ICE-involved shooting in January. However, the CrimethInc article the post references is not in the indictment.
CrimethInc declares itself “an international network of aspiring revolutionaries,” the indictment notes. The website lists a P.O. box based in Olympia, Washington, and another mailing address in England.
The Jan. 15 CrimethInc article Sant allegedly wrote gave an on-the-ground account of demonstrators confronting law enforcement in Minneapolis before committing theft.
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“Police reinforced the federal mercenaries, joining them in shooting a tremendous amount of tear gas and flash-bang grenades at demonstrators as well as at passing cars and houses in the residential district,” the article said. “Nonetheless, the officers lost control of the area and retreated, ceding the streets to those who had defied them. In the process, ICE agents abandoned several vehicles in the area.”
The story describes rioters breaking into abandoned cars and stealing documents, tactical gear, and more. “When the tear gas cleared, I saw that the cops were gone. It seemed too good to be true,” the author wrote.