Trump’s NSPM-7 Indictments Just Keep Coming
The Intercept
(July 14, 2026) — The Trump administration just scored its first convictions under NSPM-7, the notorious presidential directive targeting left-wing activists as domestic terrorists, sending 16 people to prison for a combined 560+ years following a protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas.
Now they’ve got their eyes on their next wave of NSPM-7 targets.
The Justice Department has charged 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis with “conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer” using such flimsy evidence as having a bullhorn, carrying a radio, wearing clothing with left-wing political messages, and attending a Democratic Socialists of America meeting.
If the Prairieland trial is any indication, these activists could also be facing serious prison time for what should clearly be First Amendment-protected activity.
The Intercept is doggedly investigating the circumstances of these activists’ arrests and preparing to take legal action under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the government to hand over body camera footage from ICE’s Minnesota operation.
This could be a long and costly legal fight, and we’re counting on reader support to ensure we have the resources to see it through.
The Minneapolis indictment exemplifies the Trump regime’s escalating strategy: criminalize whole political movements with claims of collective liability and “conspiracy,” and treat typical acts of protest, constitutionally protected speech, association, and political identification as illegal.
The “conspiracy” in Minneapolis, according to the government, involves purported antifa activists acting with the aim of impeding ICE operations and injuring officers. The indictment names no actual officer injuries — instead only minor incidents of property damage.
Minor violations and property damage may involve unlawful acts, but they do not constitute a mass criminal conspiracy.
Certainly, none of it calls for unleashing the vast resources of the federal government against protesters. The Trump administration, however, has made its own objective clear: raise the stakes of association with political movements dangerously high.
The Intercept has a long track record of exposing prosecutorial abuses and helping overturn miscarriages of justice. But everything we do relies on reader support.
