The NSPM-7 arrests keep coming

Last September, Donald Trump issued a presidential directive called NSPM-7 ordering the Justice Department to investigate left-wing activists and organizations as domestic terrorists. 

Their latest NSPM-7 prosecution might just be their most Orwellian.

Last week, the Justice Department charged 15 anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis with “conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers” — despite the fact that the indictment lists no federal officer injuries. 

So what exactly did these protesters do wrong, according to the government? They went to a Democratic Socialists of America meeting.

We’re not kidding. That’s literally in the indictment. Other so-called evidence of “conspiracy” cited by the government includes activists having a bullhorn, carrying a radio, tracking the license plate numbers of ICE vehicles, wearing a sweatshirt and hat with left-wing political messages, and using a devil emoji in a Signal chat. 

The Intercept is doggedly investigating the circumstances of these activists’ arrests, including how the federal government got access to their encrypted Signal chats. In addition, we’re preparing to sue ICE under the Freedom of Information Act for refusing to hand over key body camera footage from the Minneapolis crackdown last winter. 

However — and this is truly painful to admit — our entire NSPM-7 investigation may have to be cut back due to lack of funds. 

This is some of the most ambitious and high-impact reporting we’ve ever done, and as a nonprofit news outlet, we need to raise $400,000 by June 30 to avoid a budget shortfall that would weaken our reporting capacity. 

But right now we’re still $170,000 short of the goal for our midyear fundraising campaign — and that’s a big, big problem. 

If you value the independent investigative reporting of The Intercept, please chip in $5 or whatever you can right now. There’s still time to catch up, but we can’t do it without you.