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Should we discuss Signalgate? No, not the time Republican leaders embarrassed themselves by inviting a journalist into their private top secret (almost-literally) group chat. The new and improved Signalgate in Minnesota.
Many people have noted the coordinated nature of the "I'm-not-touching-you" mostly-non-violent stalking and harassing of ICE in Minnesota. I have also noted that included in their list of targets were just random people in the wrong kind of car.
Some conservative journalists and activists have been able gain access and insight to the method of coordination - a massive Signal chat where people divide into different roles and then join training sessions, read a manual, and then go off into the streets to take part in a coordinated effort to prevent ICE from arresting people and with the long term goal of ICE no longer enforcing bipartisan and popular federal law in the city of Minneapolis.
The roles are as follows:
Here's where it gets speculative: one of the admins on the group has the Username "Flan Southside" which many suspect is Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flannigan. I'm not sure if there is evidence beyond just the name similarity, but one member of the Signal chat seemed to think (after these rumors became wide spread) that "Flan has been exposed." and the Signal member was going to go to Cuba where they had friends. Of course, by this point, the entire chat could be filled with Right Wingers trolling.
Also, it seems like Good and Pretti (seriously, good and pretty? How does this happen?) were members of the Signal chat and were being coordinated by the Signal Dispatch during their fatal encounters with Homeland Security.
At what point is this no longer just people exercising their first amendment rights? At what point is this a conspiracy to undermine the laws of this country resulting in the deaths of two people ?
What set of actions you've described do you think are, or perhaps ought to be, crimes? What section of the United States Code do they violate? The closest one, in my mind, is the license plate one. Which could be a CFAA violation depending on how they are getting the information about plate owners. Although the Twitter thread you linked shows the database described as being crowd sourced, which would not be a crime. The one ICE usually cites to is 18 USC 111 but note that statute requires the use of force in impeding federal officials going about their duties.
What section of the United States Code describes the crime of "undermin[ing] the laws of this country resulting in the deaths of two people"? What are its elements?
Here are a few that I'm thinking of:
Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding (18 U.S.C. § 111)
This statue criminalizes any act to "forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with" a federal officer while they are performing their official duties. Even without physical contact, acts that "impede" or "intimidate" can be prosecuted as misdemeanors (up to 1 year in prison). If the harassment involves physical contact or the intent to commit another felony, it becomes a felony (up to 8 years in prison). If a weapon is used or serious injury occurs (like throwing an ice brick at someone), the penalty increases to up to 20 years.
People are definitely trying to impede Federal officers. They think they're "unarresting" people.. They actually succeed sometimes. This woman is here on camera saying that she harrassed federal agents in the process of arresting someone until they let the person go. She says, "dozens more [daily arrests] would be happening if it wasn't for the organized way that my community is showing up to stop these ICE agents. And we're scaring them."
I couldn't have written a better confession to this and the crimes below if I tried.
Influencing or Injuring an Officer (18 U.S.C. § 1503)
This law makes it a crime to "endeavor to influence, intimidate, or impede" any officer of a U.S. court through threats or force. The key here is the "corrupt intent" to interfere with the due administration of the law. It is generally punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Typically ICE would not be considered officers of the court. However, this statue may apply if the harassment is intended to influence a case currently in immigration court.
Federal Stalking (18 U.S.C. § 2261A)
If the harassment involves a "course of conduct" (repeated acts) that places an officer or their family in reasonable fear of death or serious injury, it falls under federal stalking laws if any of these people are coming from out of state. This is typically a felony carrying up to 5 years, but can be much higher if bodily injury or death results.
A coordinated conspiracy to stalk and harass federal officers significantly escalates the legal consequences. When multiple people work together to interfere with federal law enforcement, the government can move beyond individual harassment charges and use powerful conspiracy and obstruction statutes.
In a conspiracy, every member can be held legally responsible for the actions of their co-conspirators, even if they weren't personally present for every act of harassment. One could argue that this is overpowered, surely not everyone on the Signal chat is intentionally committing a felony. Never the less, here's the law:
Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer (18 U.S.C. § 372)
This is the most direct statute for the Signal chat. It specifically targets groups (two or more people) who conspire to prevent a federal officer from performing their duties through force, intimidation, or threats. The penalty is up to 6 years in prison, plus fines.
General Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S. (18 U.S.C. § 371)
While "defraud" sounds like financial crime, the "defraud clause" of this statute is broad. It covers any conspiracy to obstruct, interfere with, or impair the lawful functions of any federal agency. Working together to "defeat the lawful function" of the government (e.g., preventing the ICE or CBP from enforcing laws) carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(d)(3))
If the harassment is aimed at officers involved in an active investigation or court proceeding, it can be charged as obstruction.
Which leads us to:
If the group is highly organized and engages in a "pattern of racketeering activity" (which can include threats, or obstruction of justice), they could face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. RICO can put people in prison for 20 years per count.
(Full Disclosure, I used Gemini to get the list together but I checked each statue to make sure there are no hallucinations and that I'm willing to defend the applicability of each one. Then I edited the output so it's mostly my words where it isn't US Code verbatim.)
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