Breaking — Minnesota Caught DHS Running a Propaganda Operation

DHS claims 1,360 criminals are loose in Minnesota. Reality: 301 in custody, and Minnesota hands every one of them to ICE. Their "arrests"? Transfers—caught on video.

While others stenograph, grift, or chase the next distraction—this is the news that matters and how it’s connected.

“At worst it is pure propaganda—numbers released without evidence to stoke fear rather than inform the public.”

That’s Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, a former St. Paul police chief, calling out DHS at a press conference Thursday.¹

He has the receipts.

The Justification

DHS says Minnesota has more than 1,360 people with ICE detainers—and that the state keeps releasing them into the community instead of handing them over.¹ ² That’s the story. That’s the excuse for thousands of armed federal agents occupying Minneapolis: Minnesota won’t cooperate, so ICE has to hunt these dangerous criminals in the streets.

It’s a lie.

At Thursday’s press conference, CBP Commander Greg Bovino blamed county jails: “They may not have record of it if they don’t file them because they don’t honor them. They have no reason to keep them.”² Asked which counties don’t cooperate? He couldn’t name one: “Just look at the majority of the counties. Just go through the list.”²

He can’t name them because they don’t exist.

The Reality

Minnesota did look. DOC staff contacted every single jail in the state on Monday.¹

207 in state prisons. 94 in county jails. 301 total. Not 1,360.¹

DHS inflated the number by over a thousand people—and they can’t explain where those people came from. Meanwhile, ICE’s excuse—that counties don’t keep detainer records—just got demolished by the survey proving they do.

DOC reviewed every name DHS publicly released.¹ Many were never in Minnesota custody at all. Some have no Minnesota court records whatsoever. Some are in custody in other states. Many were handed to ICE years ago—going back to 2009, 2001, even the 1990s.¹ And some? DOC handed them to ICE, ICE released them back into the community, and now they’re making their court-ordered appearances.¹ DHS is blaming Minnesota for people ICE itself let go.

Worse: DOC hands everyone over. “This occurs every time without exception,” Schnell said.¹ The state already cooperates fully. There is no flood of dangerous criminals being released onto Minnesota streets.

“DHS is asking the public to trust the number it refuses to explain,” Schnell said.¹

Perhaps it’s a typo. Perhaps it’s a database error. Or perhaps inventing a thousand criminals is how you justify an occupation.

The Lie Caught on Video

On January 12, DOC coordinated with ICE to transfer two individuals—Meng Kong Yang and Joshua Fornell—directly into federal custody.¹ An ICE officer pulled up to the prison, walked inside, took custody—and DOC staff helped load their property. All of it on surveillance video.¹

The next day, January 13, both men appeared on a DHS press release as “criminal illegal aliens arrested yesterday during Operation Metro Surge.”¹

They weren’t arrested. They were handed over. ICE just lied about it to justify their invasion.

At Thursday’s press conference, a reporter asked ICE directly: the people you’ve displayed as arrests—were any “through a coordinated transfer?”²

The answer: “No.”²

That’s a lie. DOC has it on tape.

“I will admit it feels a little absurd even showing a video like this to all of you,” Schnell said, “but truth matters. Facts matter.”¹

The Pattern

“The messaging is coming out of higher levels.”¹

At that higher level, CBP Commander Bovino was asked about the five-year-old detained in Columbia Heights: any moral or ethical qualms?

“I didn’t detain a five-year-old,” he said. “I’ve got no qualms about making America a safer place when we arrest those illegal aliens.”²

Liam Conejo Ramos is five years old. He’s in a Texas detention facility right now. Bovino’s answer isn’t a denial—it’s erasure. To him, Liam isn’t a child. He’s a target.

Asked when the operation would end—is there a target number?

“There is a number,” Bovino said, “and it’s called all of them.”²

Not “the worst of the worst.” Not criminals. Not “threats.” All of them.

The Real Target

So why are thousands of armed federal agents occupying Minneapolis? Why are they kicking down doors without judicial warrants? Why did they detain a five-year-old and ship him to Texas?

Not to catch “the worst of the worst.” DOC already does that—and hands every one of them to ICE, without exception.

So why invent a thousand criminals who don’t exist? Why lie about “arrests” that were transfers? Why occupy a city to catch people who are already being handed over?

Because “all of them” means Liam. It means his father. It means every family they can terrorize. The propaganda is the cover. Ethnic cleansing is the goal.

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The Call

This isn’t an isolated incident. We track stories like this using the fascism syndrome—ten indicators that a democracy is sliding into fascism—so you don’t lose the thread in the daily chaos:

• War on reality: 1,360 claimed. 301 found. “Arrests” that were coordinated transfers. Lies told to reporters’ faces, contradicted by video.

• Capture of the state: Propaganda coming from “higher levels.” Local cooperation exists; lies come from the top.

• Erosion of due process: Won’t explain their numbers. Won’t say how many homes they’ve entered without warrants. “Law enforcement sensitive.”

Inflate the numbers. Lie about arrests. Occupy the city. Target “all of them.” That’s not enforcement. That’s fascism.

But we’re not here just to tell you the house is on fire.

We built this publication to equip you with the tools to fight back—the frameworks, the messaging, the strategies that actually work. See the links below. But we can only keep doing this with your help. If this matters to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You keep the fight alive.

• Fighting Fascism: How We Push Back and Win — The strategic playbook for reclaiming power

• The Trump Regime Messaging Guide — How to talk to people who’ve been captured by the machine

• The Freedom Illusion — How we got here, and the counter-ideology that gets us out

1. Minnesota Department of Corrections, “Press Conference: ICE Detainers in Minnesota“, ABC 6 News, January 22, 2026.

Commissioner Paul Schnell presents the results of a statewide survey showing only 301 individuals with ICE detainers in Minnesota custody—not the 1,360+ claimed by DHS. DOC reviewed every name DHS publicly released: many were never in Minnesota custody, some have no Minnesota court records, some are in other states, and many were handed to ICE years or decades ago. Some were released back into the community by ICE itself. Documents the Yang/Fornell case: DOC has surveillance video of a January 12 coordinated transfer, yet both men appeared on a January 13 DHS press release as “arrested” in Operation Metro Surge. Schnell calls the discrepancy “at worst pure propaganda—numbers released without evidence to stoke fear.” Notes that misinformation is coming from “higher levels,” not local ICE offices.

2. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “Press Conference: Minneapolis Operations“, KARE 11, January 22, 2026.

CBP Commander Greg Bovino and ICE EAD Marcos Charles respond to DOC’s findings. Bovino blames counties for not keeping detainer records—contradicted by DOC’s survey of every jail. When asked directly if displayed “arrests” came through coordinated transfers, ICE says “No”—a provable lie. Bovino deflects questions about the detained five-year-old (”I didn’t detain a five-year-old”) and states the target number for the operation: “all of them.” Also refuses to disclose how many homes ICE has entered with only administrative warrants: “law enforcement sensitive.”