Minnesotans and local civil society groups demonstrate peacefully while far-right conspiracies attempt to shift focus from Trump administration actions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, in a coordinated effort to discredit civil society organizations in Minneapolis and beyond, the right-wing disinformation machine has launched a fresh smear campaign against those peacefully protesting ICE’s extreme and deeply unpopular tactics—branding them as “extreme communists” supposedly funded by China. At the center of this manufactured hysteria is Scott Walter and the Capital Research Center, whose reckless, conspiratorial accusations were eagerly laundered into the mainstream by Senator Josh Hawley, who cited them in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding federal investigations into protesters.
The Capital Research Center is not a serious research institution—it is a conspiracy-tinged, hyperpartisan attack operation that dresses up ideological propaganda as “investigation.” Its output is routinely shaped by political agendas rather than evidence, and its claims have repeatedly been debunked, discredited, or exposed as misleading. Far from being a trustworthy authority, Capital Research Center functions as a smear factory, producing sensationalized narratives designed to inflame right-wing outrage and provide pseudo-intellectual cover for extremist talking points.
Whatever veneer of legitimacy the organization tries to project hinges largely on its president, Scott Walter, whose public credibility collapsed further after he attached himself to the widely ridiculed conspiracy film 2000 Mules—a project emblematic of the broader ecosystem of election disinformation and paranoia that Capital Research Center increasingly caters to. In short, the group is best understood not as a credible source of research, but as a politically weaponized propaganda shop with a history of pushing fringe conspiracy narratives.
And this is not merely a rhetorical stunt—it is a deliberate strategy with deadly consequences. These latest theatrics from Capitol Hill are part of a broader, ongoing campaign by the Capital Research Center and the Trump-aligned political apparatus to demonize dissent and justify state violence. This is the same playbook they have used to excuse federal agents’ extrajudicial killings in Minneapolis, including grotesquely attempting to rewrite the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti as deserved consequences of “domestic terrorism,” blaming the victims in order to shield those responsible.
Fact Checking Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists’ Claims
Right-wing conspiracy theorists claim “left wing billionaires” and the Chinese Communist Party are funding protests in Minneapolis, but interviews on the ground show a network of concerned local residents and civil society groups are the main participants.
- RIGHT WING CLAIM: Minnesota anti-ICE protesters are being paid by ‘left-wing billionaires’ and may be funded by the Chinese Communist Party
- REALITY: Local civil society groups and ordinary Minnesotans are banding together to peacefully protest after government agents murdered their neighbors and brought chaos to their city.
Protestors interviewed on the ground in Minnesota are by and large local residents outraged by ICE’s violence and aggressive tactics, they include:
- REALITY: Local civil society groups and ordinary Minnesotans are banding together to peacefully protest after government agents murdered their neighbors and brought chaos to their city.
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- Cory, a South Minneapolis resident who “felt no choice but to step up. He had taken legal bystander training in November when other cities were experiencing ICE’s crackdowns. And in early January, as more and more stories surfaced about people being taken by federal agents from their families, at bus stops, from their jobs, it became clear to him that Minnesotans needed to do whatever they could.”
- Aaron and Morgan, a married couple “who recently started patrolling their neighborhood for federal agents.” Aaron, 41, who works in marketing said he “kind of woke up to what was happening when Renée Good was killed – I knew bad things were happening, but hadn’t realized quite how bad it was yet… And then when that happened, it was like, it’s time to start doing something.”
- “Lori Gesch, a proud ‘Granny against ICE’. She had written the phase, in marker, across the back of her mint-green puffer coat. ‘Because I am a granny,’ she said. ‘And if they want to take me down – go for it. But I just wanted to show them I’m not afraid.’”
- Kristie Kimball, a “food writer and fundraiser who has organized mutual aid” in the Twin Cities, who said “we also know that the conditions that we’re organizing under require us to be exceptionally careful about anything that could be perceived as violence, even if it’s self-defense. And that’s an unfortunate reality of the moment that we’re in right now, where we’re not just fighting for the soul of Minnesota, we’re fighting for the soul of the rest of the country.”
- Haven Watch, founded by Minnesotan Natalie Ehret in January 2026, helps people released from DHS custody. Ehret said many of the people being released “are people who were temporarily detained all day long and they were picked up either just observing, maybe protesting, they had a whistle or there’s just a lot of racial profiling. You know, 20-year-old kids who were on their way to work and they showed their documentation. They’re a full citizen, they showed their real ID and still were drug from the vehicle and brought here.” Ehret says she thinks “about 60 or 70 percent of them are citizens. And then the other releases are non U.S. citizens, who have all had some kind of legal status.”
- “Local organizations including the Minnesota AFL-CIO union and the multi-faith coalition Isaiah have also pulled off an economic blackout and large rally in subzero temperatures on 23 January, attracting supporters across the country who joined in calling out of work and not spending money.”
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