Minnesota activist group ‘Monarca’ training civilians to follow ICE agents and is ramping up activities: ‘showing in force’

ROSEVILLE, MN — A lefty Minnesota group which trains people to obstruct ICE officers is ratcheting up its activities in the wake of the fatal shooting of activist Renee Nicole Good — with thousands of people showing up “in force” for a radical training seminar on Saturday.

Non-profit organization “Monarca” is dedicated to resisting the Trump administration’s ICE enforcementby training so-called “upstander legal observers” to follow, track, report, and record Department of Homeland Security officers while they are in the midst of operations.

Good, 37, was part of another leftist group, “ICE Watch.”

On Saturday, more than 1,000 activists crammed into Roseville Lutheran Church about 20 minutes outside Minneapolis for a class, where speeches from left-wing instructors decried the ICE mission as a “federal occupation” and “white supremacy.”

“There’s an inspiration of us showing in force, when an unrestrained president can do with a white supremacist police force, that has no oversight, and no family,” an unidentified female organizer told the packed church.

That same speaker blasted “conservative men” and spoke of “misogynist goals of a white person and nationalist movement that is strangling our nation.

“Minneapolis is now one of the largest federal occupations of any American city to date,” the lefty organizer claimed.

The 12-page manual given to attendees instructs them how to use whistles to alert others to ICE activities. Short sounds are to indicate ICE is in the area while longer ones indicate ICE is actively conducting an operation.

It further gives instruction on how to speak to the media, using phrases such as “I am here because I believe in keeping our families and communities together.”

Training sessions in other cities are scheduled through the month and are fully booked, according to the group’s website.

Monarca said its expanding operations.

On a “rapid response line,” Monarca representatives instruct citizen callers reporting ICE activity to follow agents, take photos and videos, and to share their location so the group can send out their legal observers to show up to active operations.

A website for the group stated that their legal observers are trained to come to the aid of those being detained by ICE, which is targeting violent and sexual migrant criminals. 

Observers are instructed to get any detainee’s personal information and make phone calls on their behalf if needed. They are also instructed not to livestream any interactions or post any video or photo materials onto social media.

Other instructions on the site tell legal observers and civilians not to “run, argue, resist, or fight” ICE officers.

After the outset of DHS’s Operation Midway Blitz in the Land of 10,000 Lakes last summer, Monarca deployed a downloadable packet called a “weight station toolkit” on Oct. 31 informing inquirers of several locations, namely weight stations, where ICE would be conducting operations.

The group further gave out instructions on “narrative messaging” that declares, “No matter our race, class, or background, we all want to live in safe and strong communities. But when the government increases militarized activity, none of us benefit. When our neighbors are targeted, all of us are at risk.”

Monarca is an arm of non-profit group Unidos Minnesota, which reported $545,123 in total assets in 2023, according to tax filings.

Monarca, Unidos Minnesota, the FBI, and DHS declined to comment.