Leftist group 'Monarca' trains activists at Minnesota church for anti-ICE actions

A left-wing activist group gathered more than one thousand people inside a Minnesota church on Saturday for “training” on how to interact with ICE agents in public, following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good earlier this month.

The group, Monarca, said the event was intended to train “upstander legal observers” to follow and record Department of Homeland Security officers as they carry out ICE operations. Attendees were encouraged to attend protests wearing gas masks and sunglasses and to carry a pencil, with organizers noting that in Minnesota, “a pen will freeze.”

According to the New York Post, speakers at the training session, held at Roseville Lutheran Church, described ICE as a “white supremacist police force that has no oversight.” The remarks followed the January 7 shooting death of Good during an encounter with an ICE agent, after authorities said she positioned her vehicle toward the agent and began to drive. Good was reportedly affiliated with another left-wing group known as ICE Watch.

One speaker at the event criticized “conservative men” and the “misogynist goals of a white person and nationalist movement that is strangling our nation.” Another speaker told activists they should irritate ICE agents “just like a mosquito.”

Attendees were given whistles, which have routinely been used by anti-ICE activists to draw attention to enforcement operations and alert others in the area. Participants also received a 12-page manual that outlined how to use the whistles to signal ICE activity. Short sounds were described as indicating ICE was nearby, while longer blasts signaled that ICE was actively carrying out an operation.

The manual also included guidance on speaking with the media, suggesting activists use phrases like “I am here because I believe in keeping our families and communities together.”

Monarca is part of the nonprofit Unidos Minnesota, which reported more than half a million dollars in assets in 2023, according to tax filings. The group’s website states that its observers are trained to assist individuals being detained by ICE, instructing them to gather personal information and make phone calls on behalf of those detained.