Roving Bands of Leftist Brownshirts Attacking Random People in Minneapolis

For all the talk about ICE being the “Gestapo,” the reality is that the anti-ICE protesters are actually mimicking the Brownshirts. 

We now have roving gangs of Black Bloc protesters who are stopping ordinary citizens and demanding they prove they are not Jews, oops, I mean ICE agents. 

EXCLUSIVE: Tech workers say they were mistaken for ICE agents, accosted by anti-ICE mob

What began as a casual lunch between five Twin Cities software engineers quickly escalated into a frightening encounter after the men were misidentified as undercover federal agents and… pic.twitter.com/aca4QUb8mF

— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) January 17, 2026

What began as a casual lunch between five Twin Cities software engineers quickly escalated into a frightening encounter after the men were misidentified as undercover federal agents and protesters were alerted to the Minneapolis restaurant where they were dining.

Alpha News obtained video and spoke with one of the men, Lee, a software engineer from Plymouth, who described how the situation unfolded.

Lee said the group was eating lunch at Clancy’s Deli, near 38th Street and Grand Avenue South, when one of the men — who belongs to an anti-ICE Signal chat — received a message from a group labeled “SW Minneapolis Rapid Response” claiming that plainclothes ICE agents were dining at the restaurant.

“My friend was shocked,” Lee said. “He’s on the [anti-ICE] side politically. He lives nearby. He’s eaten there before. And suddenly he’s seeing messages saying we’re ICE.”

The software engineers — all white males dressed casually in sweatshirts and jackets — were soon confronted by protesters who surrounded the restaurant, shouting insults and blowing whistles in their ears as they attempted to leave, according to Lee.

Lee emphasized to Alpha News that the group’s political views were mixed, but said the encounter left some of them reconsidering their positions.

“One of us is pro-ICE, one anti-ICE, others on the fence,” he said. “After this, I think some of them are rethinking everything.”

The goal is to create a general sense of chaos and anxiety and to up the pressure on ordinary people who just want peace. Some, obviously, will want a crackdown, but others will blame the Trump administration for stirring up a hive of hornets. 

In any case, you can be quite certain that city and state leaders will see the energy of the extremists and lean into it. Already they are encouraging people to harass ICE agents, and people are responding by harassing…anyone who might, conceivably, be a federal government employee. 

This is the third video I’ve seen today of these left-wing activists harassing random people.

This isn’t about peaceful protest or even legitimate concerns about ICE enforcement practices. It’s about violent extremists looking for an excuse. https://t.co/tpSv5DqKUs

— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 17, 2026

Hotels are closing down, chefs and servers are being encouraged to poison ICE agents, and there are rumblings about upping the pressure by making and deploying IEDs. Even if none of these things actually happen, the goal of terrorizing people is being met anyway. 

Random violence works not by changing minds with any one act; terrorist attacks are by their nature rare. The goal is to break down social trust and make everybody anxious and looking for a way to restore normality. In a place like Minnesota, where our local leaders sympathize with the terrorists, they are betting that the pressure will force an even worse confrontation with the federal government. 

“they won’t be wearing facemasks but we will blur their faces on the internet for the exact same reason the federal agents wear face masks”

incredible. https://t.co/ornkGJTrPc

— Phil Labonte 🇺🇸 (@philthatremains) January 18, 2026

Already, the protesters are being told how to distinguish between the National Guard and federal agents and troops, with the obvious implication that it is open season on the latter as long as the former are left alone. 

This is disgusting.

Radical protesters enter an evangelical church (Cities Church, St. Paul, MN) and disrupt a worship service to protest an ICE agent who is a pastor there.

Absolutely despicable. pic.twitter.com/i42NoozcCq

— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) January 18, 2026

Obviously, for the radicals, the goal is an actual insurrection. Getting there from here is obviously a fantasy, but even in American history, such fantasies have motivated mass violence by a small number of radicals. Anybody who lived through the 60s and 70s likely remembers that the level of violence was quite high, including bombings and terrorist attacks by leftists. 

Minnesota is transitioning from “Repressive Tolerance” to Maoist Mass Line enforcement – through targeted violence of its opposition (Minnesota citizens) – in the open streets, in broad daylight, with no law enforcement protection. The MPLS Police did not evacuate the streets;… https://t.co/45lo4qHUer pic.twitter.com/mfSas9kFbE

— Stephen Coughlin (@S_Coughlin_DC) January 18, 2026

Minnesota is transitioning from “Repressive Tolerance” to Maoist Mass Line enforcement – through targeted violence of its opposition (Minnesota citizens) – in the open streets, in broad daylight, with no law enforcement protection. The MPLS Police did not evacuate the streets; they turned them over to the revolutionaries. This is the counter-state in overwatch of the insurgency. Its code name is “Peaceful Protest.”

This is what peaceful protest has always meant. 

 This is not street violence; this is revolutionary operations taking control of an urban area that will be replicated if not (properly) checked.

Tim Walz and Mayor Frey are playing a very dangerous game, but they may want to push it in any case, as their careers and perhaps their actual freedom are on the line in the corruption investigations. When $10 billion or more disappears into fraudsters’ pockets, you can bet the investigations will be comprehensive, and both men have deep connections to the fraudsters, as does Attorney General Keith Ellison. 

Minnesota has lost it.

People are beeping their horns and sounding whistles at this man that rented a vehicle with Texas plates.

All he wanted was to get food.

Is MN completely full of low IQ individuals? pic.twitter.com/oHqt9RRGmL

— Jammles (@jammles9) January 18, 2026

Risking others’ lives is hardly an unusual reaction. After all, they are making themselves martyrs to the cause in the eyes of Democrats, standing up to the feds, and if they are arrested while Trump is president, they will have the full backing of the media and the Democrats. 

They want the fraud investigation to look like retaliation for opposing Trump. I very much doubt that Frey or Walz is directing the protests, but they are making them as easy as possible, providing resources to the anti-ICE protesters by directing them to where ICE is active, and have told the Minneapolis police to stand down. 

This is how communists win: they subvert law and order to make them and others feel threatened, forcing submission under the guise of public safety.

This is a large bunch of violent criminals that Democrats have bred to fight their civil war for them while pretending they have…

— Common Sense Guy (@DoffyBill) January 18, 2026

Minneapolis is already only at 2/3rds strength, and will soon be nearing 1/2 strength and well below the statutory and court-ordered levels. 

The city will become ungovernable. And Mayor Frey seems to want it that way. 

Libs are now harassing every semi masculine looking White man they see who won’t say “f*ck ICE,” on suspicion of being ICE.

This just isn’t sustainable. pic.twitter.com/HvhutnqVoa

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 17, 2026

A rather nasty anti-immigrant protester was chased down by a mob and beaten, giving the lie to any of this being “First Amendment” activity. This is roving mobs of ideological enforcers threatening or even beating anybody they disapprove of. 

Jake Lang is attacked by the black bloc crowd as he tried to leave his pro-ICE, anti-Islam rally at Minneapolis City Hall. Multiple fights broke out. Did not see any police during this hectic scene. pic.twitter.com/zHp6ziJgV7

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 17, 2026

Minneapolis police is losing, at least temporarily, 18% or more of its police force as officers decide en masse to take “family leave” all of a sudden. Morale is in the toilet as they are ordered to abandon other law enforcement officers to the mob, and they are reminded of how they were abandoned during the George Floyd riots. 

Minneapolis protesters to @MinneapolisPD:

“WE HATE YOU!!!”

Directed at Hispanic Cop: “You’re NOT white! Where’s your f*cking papers?!”

Yeah, Minneapolitans REALLY care about racism and their OWN law enforcement…

🙄@DeRushaJ @GLpodcast @mbrodkorb @JonJustice @WalterHudson pic.twitter.com/IIhprdMnKy

— LeftistsofMN (@LeftistsofMN) January 17, 2026

About a third of Minneapolis’ remaining force will be eligible for retirement in the next couple of years, and you can be certain that most of those officers will jump at the chance to get out. Who wants to work in an environment like this?

Anti-ICE protester sits on a vehicle holding a gun in Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/V7eBPyjh2c

— Wid Lyman (@Wid_Lyman) January 17, 2026

Many police officers don’t just feel abandoned by their leadership; they are beginning to feel like they are political pawns being moved around to protect a political leadership that is actually trying to stimulate violence to cover up for their own corruption. 

I don’t think these protests are merely “Anti-ICE” because I can see and hear. A LOT of Minneapolis residents DESPISE law enforcement.@DeRushaJ @mbrodkorb @WalterHudson @JonJustice

Example #829,792: pic.twitter.com/4dYj8jOFSf

— LeftistsofMN (@LeftistsofMN) January 17, 2026

It would be an exaggeration to say that the entire city is falling apart. There are parts of the city where we are merely spectators to the chaos on social media or in the news, but the sense of anxiety pervades the city. 

🚨 INFURIATING: Commander Bovino confirms anti-ICE rioters are destroying PRIVATE vehicles of CIVILIANS, thinking they’re ICE

Mayor Frey and Tim Walz haven’t said a FREAKING WORD to help put a stop to this

Innocent Minnesotans are victims of these two pic.twitter.com/xgZOeKyIrA

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 17, 2026

It’s hard to know what “public opinion” really is. After all, if you are disgusted by the violence or even vaguely support ICE, you will be socially ostracized. As a result, the only people who openly talk about all this support the protests. I couldn’t say whether there is or isn’t a “silent majority,” because I am a hermit, and the few people in the area I talk to are obviously highly selected. 

So to catch you up on events:

– Protest group chased two innocent dudes out of a diner.

– Attacked an innocent guy on the street who was actually with them.

– Harassed an innocent guy with an SUV and demanded to see his ID.

– Blocked an innocent guy because of his rental… https://t.co/g3F9sUybo9

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 18, 2026

So to catch you up on events:

– Protest group chased two innocent dudes out of a diner. 

– Attacked an innocent guy on the street who was actually with them. 

– Harassed an innocent guy with an SUV and demanded to see his ID. 

– Blocked an innocent guy because of his rental car plates 

– Have now stormed into church services. 

And I haven’t seen a single Minneapolis police officer in any of the previous week’s video footage.

But what I can say is that the protesters’ aggressiveness will not abate, and nobody is happy living in this environment. The city FEELS on edge. 

Walz and Frey could make this all go away instantly. Tom Homan made it clear that ICE would leave if both the cities and the state simply turned over the illegal alien criminals in custody. 

That they won’t turn over the worst of the worst and would rather have this chaos and violence instead tells you everything you need to know. 

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