Revealed: Undercover agents spied on anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota, records show
Newly disclosed DHS records show undercover agents infiltrated Signal chats and protest meetings in Minnesota to gather intelligence on anti-ICE activists, part of a case against 15 protesters.
The internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) files, disclosed in federal court, document actions of several undercover agents, including one who used the username “peanutbutterjelly” in Signal chats with activists. The officer kept records of Signal conversations, screenshotting chats about protest plans and offering to help with fundraising and volunteer recruitment.
Another undercover agent took photos at demonstrations and planning meetings, including of demonstrators in frog costumes, a poster mocking JD Vance, and a protester writing an anti-ICE message in chalk. Other agents trailed a protester as he left his home, got coffee, and went to a church.
The records were released as part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing prosecution of 15 Minneapolis protesters, accused of being part of a “conspiracy” to “impede” ICE. An earlier tranche of DHS files disclosed this month revealed the investigation, code-named “Operation Puppet Master,” sent undercover agents to community meetings and obtained financial records of left-leaning nonprofits and unions.
The surveillance escalated during widespread anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January. Civil rights groups and the protesters’ attorneys have argued the government was surveilling people without justification and criminalizing lawful protest activity.
DHS and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to inquiries on Tuesday. Earlier this month, a DHS spokesperson said its investigative branch “does not comment on the existence or status of specific on-going investigations, nor on investigative methods.”
Undercover agent 9843, who went by “peanutbutterjelly,” was assigned to homeland security investigations. In December 2025, the agent attended virtual and in-person meetings to “gather intelligence regarding any organized networks of conspirators” who might be providing material support to violent opportunists, according to a February DHS report.
The agent attended an “ICE watch” training on December 3, where organizers urged participants to observe nonviolently, and a “legal observer” training four days later, reporting no threats to public safety. The agent also became involved with advocates organizing protests at hotels where ICE agents were believed to be staying, offering to verify locations and to work on fundraising and propaganda efforts.
A DHS report labeled “Images from UCA 9843’s phone” described photos and screenshots taken by the agent, including messages about housing for Veterans for Peace members, a planned march by a rightwing influencer, and a selfie sent in a Signal group.
Other files included summaries of DHS interviews with two undercover agents who attended a January community meeting hosted by Sunrise Movement, a national nonprofit involved in protesting ICE. One agent recounted organizers giving a “historical breakdown” of the group and discussing peaceful protest strategies, summarizing, “They were pretty big on peaceful protest.”