(MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA) - Federal Agents launched a sweeping undercover surveillance operation earlier this year targeting progressive organizations, Labor Unions and other groups protesting the immigration crackdown then raging through Minneapolis, according to Court documents. The program, dubbed Operation Puppet Master, was aimed at what officials called a network of conspirators helping “violent opportunists and agitators.” The documents were filed in a case involving 15 people charged by Federal Prosecutors in June with impeding the crackdown, accusing them of conspiring against the Federal Government through a range of actions, from throwing ice chunks to setting up blockades. The government documents were released in connection with a motion from a defense lawyer who requested officials disclose more material collected during the investigations. The reality, according to those documents revealed in court motions, was Department of Homeland Security Officers infiltrating meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally-protected protests.

Groups that the government investigated were furious at the news, including Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Claude Cummings, Jr. released the following statement: Our Union has become the latest target of a corrupt Administration that weaponizes the legal process against law-abiding Americans exercising our Constitutional rights. CWA is a Union that harnesses the power of our collective voice and peaceful protest to stand up for one another, to keep our neighbors safe and to build good jobs to provide for our families. We are part of a proud tradition of ordinary Americans who join together in Union Halls and church basements to make this country better. But our values of unity, of community, are under attack by a President and his Department of Homeland Security that sends Government spies to surveil community meetings in church basements. But mark my words: CWA is a Union with a long history of standing up to bullies and billionaire bosses. We will not be intimidated and we will not be silenced in our solidarity with our Members, with our communities and with our neighbors. Our Union Halls remain open. Our fight continues. Together, we will speak out, we will vote, we will fight and we will win.

For More On This Labor News Report, Go To: U.S. feds targeting Minnesota progressive groups: documents And CWA Responds to DHS Attacks on Community Organizing | Communications Workers of America