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Christina Buttons@buttonslives · Feb 3, 2026

Minneapolis’s “ICE watch” network did not arise organically. My 3.5-week investigation for @CityJournal found that a…

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Summary

A City Journal investigation reveals that Minneapolis's "Defend the 612" ICE watch network was not a grassroots movement but a professionally organized operation architected by activist Jill Garvey and funded through progressive dark money networks like Arabella Advisors. The network uses Signal groups to coordinate surveillance of ICE agents, aid undocumented immigrants in ways that may constitute harboring, and encourages confrontational tactics that put volunteers at legal and physical risk while keeping paid organizers insulated.

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  1. #1

    Minneapolis’s “ICE watch” network did not arise organically. My 3.5-week investigation for @CityJournal found that a well-funded group of professional activists implemented the operation, deploying a model now being used in cities across the US. 🧵

  2. #2

    “Defend the 612” purports to be a spontaneous community effort merely filming ICE. My investigation shows it was organized with professional help. Its Signal networks are used to coordinate the hiding of illegal aliens, develop a media “propaganda” strategy, and plan violent protests, while its trainings push civilians toward dangerous confrontations.

  3. #3

    Jill Garvey is the architect of this strategy. She pioneered the ICE watch model in 2017 with a Chicago group called Protect RP. In 2024, she co-founded States at the Core (STAC), which turned this model into a national strategy in early 2025.

  4. #4

    STAC operates within the largest funding networks in progressive politics. It is fiscally sponsored by the Hopewell Fund, part of the Arabella Advisors dark money network, which moved roughly $1.179 billion across nearly 200 projects last year.

  5. #5

    This model is being exported nationwide. STAC trainings have reached 20 states, including direct organizing support in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Charlotte, and New Orleans. By December, STAC was working with local Minneapolis activists to help form Defend the 612.

  6. #6

    Protect RP was explicit about interfering with ICE operations. Defend the 612 echoes this language in its trainings, downplaying safety concerns, delegitimizing law enforcement, and encouraging participants to take greater risks in service of the movement.

  7. #7

    Defend the 612 uses massive Signal networks to stalk ICE. Thousands of people across hundreds of neighborhood groups track suspected agents, logging license plates and the specific hotels where they stay.

  8. #8

    The network runs vetted mutual aid groups that raise rent funds, deliver groceries, and provide transportation so illegal immigrants do not have to leave their homes and risk ICE contact, which can constitute harboring. Internal chats even discuss eating paper address records.

  9. #9

    I also accessed a vetted group used for external media shaping. Members claimed a reporter from the Minnesota Reformer, part of the States Newsroom, which got its start with Arabella Advisors’ Hopewell Fund, gave them full editorial control over a story.

  10. #10

    These groups openly discuss sabotage plans and violent protests. They encourage volunteers to throw urine on agents, harass them, and get arrested intentionally to divert federal resources. They planned a protest where violence was the goal.

  11. #11

    Defend the 612 organizers used the deaths of Renee Good, whose Signal account I found within their network, and Alex Pretti to recruit new members. While volunteers face these physical and legal risks, the salaried architects of the movement remain shielded.

  12. #12

    My investigation for @CityJournal reveals the professionalized strategy that brought ICE watch chaos to Minneapolis. Read the full report here: city-journal.org/article/minnea…