Wednesday, February 4, 2026

She Did the Work on ICE Watch So You Don’t Have To – HotAir

February 4, 2026
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She Did the Work on ICE Watch So You Don't Have To – HotAir
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I have been asked a few times by commenters why I have not become an investigative journalist and infiltrated any of the anti-ICE groups, or gone all Nick Shirley on the fraud here in Minnesota. 





I have quite a few answers, ranging from “I’m 61 and have a job that pays the mortgage, car insurance, and for food,” to “there is a reason why there is a division of labor—each of us has strengths, weaknesses, skills, and specialties which don’t overlap. Not to mention access to resources. I couldn’t do what DataRepublican does, or have the connections that Christopher Rufo has, or the staff that many investigative reporters do.  

I collate information and make it make sense to others. That is my skill. 

There are, though, excellent investigative reporters out there whose work I draw on. Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon, for instance, does an outstanding job. Luke Rosiak of the Daily Wire is another. There is Catherine Herridge, whose decades of great reporting speak for themselves, although you don’t see her trudging out in the cold either. Her work draws on connections and deep knowledge of systems. 

Christina Buttons, too, has done some excellent work and deserves a shout-out. 

Buttons’ investigation focused on the training and communication tactics within the “Defend the 612” group, which is part of a larger network of insurgent groups operating in the Minneapolis metro area. Its focus is on recruiting local activists to act as ground troops here (there is a large group of professional activists who essentially parachute into a region, like the Green Berets do in counterinsurgencies, and train locals to do the on-the-ground work). Defend the 612 provides the professional expertise to set up sophisticated communications, train in tactics, and provide resources. 





Defend the 612 presents itself as a spontaneous, grassroots effort. In reality, it follows a model originally developed by Protect RP. Jill Garvey, who previously worked with Protect RP and is now with States at the Core (STAC), helped turn that local ICE watch model into a coordinated national strategy.

STAC is fiscally sponsored by the Hopewell Fund. There has been mainstream reporting on the Protect RP model being exported to other cities with STAC’s support, and STAC fundraising materials state that its trainings have been viewed in at least 20 states.

What you get is a professional core surrounded by what amounts to an organized militia trained in low to moderate violence insurgency tactics, carefully calculated to provide maximum propaganda value and maximum impact on federal operations. These tactics have been honed over the years and are anything but spontaneous, and the deep connections with local officials have been cultivated over similarly long timespans. 





The local activists serve many purposes beyond providing ground troops and propaganda value. They also serve as human shields for the hard-core insurgents. 

Members repeatedly referenced the “Simple Sabotage Field Manual,” an activist handbook that members used to generate ways to impede ICE. Members discussed throwing urine at agents, praising one such incident as “mvp” behavior. A daily update account called “The Report Card” encouraged participants to “annoy” agents with constant noise. They view “noise making and interrupting their meals and bathroom breaks” as essential, noting these tactics “serve a critical role in draining their morale.”

These Signal networks have also functioned as an organizing hub for an aggressive counterprotest. In the days leading up to a demonstration by right-wing influencer Jake Lang in Minneapolis earlier this month, members in Defend the 612’s “Phillips and Powderhorn” chat circulated a post about a “defensive counteraction.” They posted an image of a hanging Klansman and tactical guidelines instructing members to mask up, wear goggles, and not film attendees. One accompanying graphic marked as “false” the statement, “Nonviolence is the only strategy.”

(City Journal’s pseudonymous account made the suggestion that the demonstrators take a nonviolent approach. An administrator removed our account from the group.)

Other members defended the inclusion of militant advocates by citing “St. Paul’s Principles”—a framework that forbids the denunciation of fellow activists’ tactics. Following a violent clash that Saturday, group members circulated videos of Lang being dragged into a mob and struck over the head, gloating over the images as evidence that their counterprotest had been effective.





The goal is to create violent incidents that can be captured on camera for propaganda purposes. The core activists encourage the local ground troops to “put their bodies on the line,” and while the locals are in the line of fire to create flashpoint situations in which violent responses are inevitable and exploitable. Martyrs are created, and the sense of a moral crusade is created. 

The tactic is very successful with its target audiences, although less so with the general public. The core activists are thrilled because their ultimate goal is a civil war—they are quite open among themselves about being insurgents aimed at toppling the “colonialist” government, and at least temporarily successful in activating center-left types who love moralistic causes. The general public? It is not so amused. 

What is unclear is whether they are angered enough to march in lockstep to the voting booths in November. The bet is that the anti-ICE people and their sympathizers will be more activated to vote in the midterms than their opponents, and it is not a bad bet. 





Key to their strategy is having a sympathetic press, and they have every reason to believe that Pravda will back them. 

Button’s investigation is a good read, but even she barely scratches the surface of the sophisticated network of insurgents who are mobilized to create these ad hoc local insurgent groups. The network has been built up over the years and is extremely well-funded, made up of trained intelligence agents funded by American and foreign governments and radical billionaires. 

What appears to be a spontaneous movement is anything but. 


  • Editor’s note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you want to join the conversation in the comments — and support independent platforms — why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!





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