Dem Leader Brags About Role In Anti-ICE Network

Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne revealed he’s involved with so-called “rapid response” activist networks that mobilize people to track and disrupt ICE. 

“This is City Council President Elliott Payne,” he said in a video posted to Bluesky. “We just got down, clearing a rapid response call. We had about twenty people show up at 10pm on Sunday, demonstrating how important it is for us to stay engaged. Even as we think that ICE isn’t here, they are still abducting people and somebody got taken today. Make sure you are staying connected with your neighbors, and make sure you’re staying safe, and staying vigilant.”

After Operation Metro Surge concluded, ICE agents who had been deployed to Minneapolis left the city. Agents permanently assigned to the Twin Cities remain on duty, however, and continue their regular work while being monitored by activist groups formed during the operation.

ICE Rapid Response Networks organize training on how to document ICE Agents, instruct their members to follow ICE vehicles, and urge them to protest ICE. Some of the larger groups have thousands of members that can be rapidly dispatched when ICE is spotted. The groups have been known to dox ICE agents and share their license plates.

The network has raised rent money for “our neighbors who cannot leave their homes” and is deeply entrenched in the Minneapolis City Council, and activism regularly appears in their governance. The city council previously lobbied Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to use the city’s rainy day funds for rental assistance. If their request was granted, the city’s municipal bonds would have likely been downgraded resulting the city being able to borrow money at a higher cost. 

The City Council is overwhelmingly left-leaning — both the majority and minority leaders represent the Democratic Socialists of America — and has advocated for “economic blackout” days, which aim at halting the city’s economy for political leverage. The council has also taken direct action against businesses tied to federal immigration enforcement. In one high-profile move, members refused to immediately renew liquor licenses for hotels allegedly connected to ICE operations. 

Some council members have worn whistles — used by activists to alert passersby to ICE activity — to city meetings where they voted on policy. They have also described their interactions with rapid response groups during official proceedings. City Council Member Aisha Chughtai, for example, appeared at the scene as authorities arrested cross-dressing “ANTIFA Kyle” — who urged his followers “to assault, kill, and doxx officers.” Chughtai described the incident via her BlueSky as ICE taking “a woman who was our neighbor.” 

A Minneapolis Council Member describes cross-dressing Antifa Kyle’s arrest as “a woman who was our neighbor” taken without an arrest warrant.

“ICE agents broke down an apartment building’s door and two dozen agents went in and arrested a woman that was our neighbor. We’re… pic.twitter.com/zjCQurYvy3

— Brecca Stoll (@breccastoll) February 6, 2026

Earlier this month, the council indicated it may revise its housing code to require landlords to accept nontraditional identifiers such as their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITN) instead of social security numbers. If the landlord violated these terms, the city could revoke any applicable rental licenses.