FBI Director Kash Patel told Benny Johnson that the agency opened an investigation into anti-ICE Signal chats exposed by independent journalist Cam Higby.
The chats revealed plots allegedly involving interference with ICE operations in Minnesota.
Johnson asked Patel about the operation:
JOHNSON: And this has now been exposed with some of these Signal chat leaks. The independent journalist who had done the exposing was just on right before you, and wanted to ask about this. He says that he has submitted some of the information that was available. There are top level leaders inside of the political infrastructure of Minnesota who are on these chats, and obviously you can’t conspire in order to attack federal agents. This is something that is at scale. They have license plate readers. They’re able to identify these agents. They’re able to dox them, find out where they’re sleeping at night. Is any of this legal, Kash?PATEL: That’s exactly what we’re investigating. Look again, the First Amendment. You want to go peacefully protest, do it. You want to bring your firearm under the law, you’re allowed to bring it, as long as you don’t incite violence and or commit another crime in doing so.What we’re asking people to do, what I’m asking people to do, is on the ground in Minnesota, is why would you bring a firearm in a situation that is so volatile right now, where so many arrests have been made, where so many people are coordinating to attack and expose federal law enforcement officers, that is just not smart. It is just not going to lead to a good scenario. And so we need everybody to tamp down, obviously, on that side.But you’re right. Some of the best reporting has been through you, and I think Mr. Higby was just on before, before I was and other individuals.Just so you guys know, we look at all this stuff. As soon as Higby put that post out, I opened an investigation on it, just like any other case, when we say, hey, quote, unquote, there was an attack in downtown Seattle. Does the public have information? We, the FBI, are looking to the public for information on these events.We immediately opened up that investigation because that sort of Signal chat being coordinated with individuals, not just locally in Minnesota, but maybe even around the country. If that leads to a break in the federal statute or a violation of some law, then we are going to arrest people. You cannot create a scenario that illegally entraps and puts law enforcement in harm’s way.Now, we will balance the First and Second Amendment constantly, but we have to let the community know that we will not tolerate acts of violence and an escalation and a violation of the federal code. There has to be a break point, and you’ve seen it broken in Minneapolis time and time again.
I stayed away from the news over the weekend for my sanity, so I am still catching up on this news.
Higby has a long X thread on the expose. I’ll highlight a few:
You’ll notice emojis next to people’s names. Here’s a key for what those emojis mean.The highlighted positions are the most crucial. Most are self explanatory. Mobile patrols spend their entire “shift” searching for suspicious vehicles.When they find one they send it to the group so that “plate checkers” can compare with their database and see if it’s a known federal vehicle or if the patrol can make the confirmation so that the database can be updated.Dispatch runs a maxed out call all day telling protestors where ICE has been spotted and how they can be best impeded.
Higby mentioned that anyone who has an “occupation” or “shift” position must have training.
Higby wondered who paid for all of this.
Data Republican on X published a list of around 4,000 potential donors.
She sent the information to the FBI:
In one of the files revealed by @camhigby, a resources file directs people with money to a website, Stand with Minnesota, which in turns directs donors to a campaign ran by Tending the Soil on Chuffed.More about Tending the Soil later. What to know: the campaign is hosted by Chuffed and the first donation came from Jonny Soppotiuk, a Canada-based community organizer who is part of Chuffed leadership and specializes in fundraising. He is most likely a central figure in raising money.So, yeah. Starting to look like foreigners are playing a key role in all of this.That’s not all. I’ve put together a spreadsheet of 4000+ donors and their possible identities.
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