According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, his FBI is already hard at work investigating the secretive online networks in which radical leftists, anti-ICE agitators, and Antifa types have coordinated their efforts to obstruct and harass ICE agents in Minneapolis. He said the investigation began as soon as the chats were exposed.
As background, federal immigration agents, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, have been pouring into Minneapolis, Minnesota ever since the massive extent of the Somali migrant-connected fraud was exposed.
While they have attempted to crack down on the fraud and collect evidence regarding it, and have been working to detain thousands of illegal aliens so that they can be deported, they have been continually harassed and obstructed by rabid gangs of pro-illegal immigration agitators who have done everything from merely blowing whistles to actually attacking ICE agents in an effort to disrupt the immigration law enforcment operations.
It was then revealed that the leftist activity regarding the crackdowns on ICE has been coordinated through secretive networks of groupchats on the encrypted messaging network Signal, and that figures close to the administration of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were involved with those chats, such as one of his campaign strategists and potentially even his Lt. Gov.
And now the FBI is investigating those Signal groups, as FBI Director Patel told conservative commentator and podcaster Benny Johnson during an appearance on his podcast. He began by noting, “As soon as [Cam] Higby put that post out, I opened an investigation on it.”
Continuing, he noted that the FBI routinely works with ordinary people to try to crack down on these sorts of things, saying, “Just like any other case, when we say, ‘Hey, 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.”
Further, he noted that those who were involved in these chat groups will face legal repercussions for illegal behavior, saying, “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.”
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He then noted that escalations and attacks against federal agents will be met with harsh reprisals, saying, “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 see it broken in Minneapolis time and time again.”
Watch him here:
Adding to the threats was, Chad Mizelle, a former deputy chief at the Department of Justice, who suggested that Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan could face a racketeering charge for her alleged role in the shadowy networks, saying, “Let me spell it out: If you are involved in a conspiracy (here, interfering with ICE operations) and someone dies as part of that conspiracy, even if the deceased is a co-conspirator, all participants in the conspiracy can be charged with murder. LG Flanagan better lawyer up. She may have some federal agents who want to talk to her…”