DHS Agent Drops Wire in Bungled Church Spy Mission

Politics admin August 17, 2026 0 Comments

DHS Agent Drops Wire in Bungled Church Spy Mission

An undercover federal agent’s concealed recording device fell to the floor of a Minneapolis church gymnasium during a bungled covert operation.

The progressive University Baptist Church in the Dinkytown neighborhood belongs to the Alliance of Baptists and the American Baptist Churches USA, both of which won a temporary injunction in February in the District of Massachusetts against the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

The order explicitly bars “immigration enforcement action” at member churches, including “arrest, seizure, search, interrogation, questioning, interview or investigation,” and warns that violations could bring sanctions against the officials and agents involved.

The surveillance came to light this week through court filings in the federal conspiracy case against 15 anti-ICE protesters known as the Minnesota 15, MPR News reported.

According to a Homeland Security Investigations report filed in the case, the undercover agent attended a training session on May 28 held by Left Jab, described by the government as a left-wing martial arts group, in the church’s gymnasium.

The agent sparred with attendees and interviewed them about how they got involved. “Due to the physicality of the event, UCA-5022’s concealed body-worn audio recorder erroneously fell to the floor of the gymnasium near the end of the training,” the report said, according to court documents.

“UCA-5022 briefly left the gymnasium, realized she no longer had the device, and returned to the gymnasium to retrieve the device from the floor.”

The church posted signs stating that federal agents were not permitted on the premises under the court order and submitted a legal declaration with a photo of the sign as evidence.

The church’s interim pastor, the Reverend Cody J. Sanders, addressed the revelation head-on in a Facebook post Sunday. “A good morning at UBC. And hopefully it won’t be a regular occurrence when I have to begin worship with, ‘First let me address the news that undercover government agents spied on activities at the church,’ before the prelude begins,” he wrote.

“Of course, we should also recognize that our Muslim siblings have been experiencing such things for decades in their places of worship. May we never become accustomed to such things or numb to their absurdity and violation.”

Other filings show federal agents surveilled the church at least three times between April and June, recording people entering and leaving, photographing cars, and running license plates to identify visitors.

Sanders said church leaders had no idea the surveillance had happened until defense attorneys filed a motion for discovery this week. “We will continue to insist that solidarity with our most vulnerable neighbors is the way that we best follow the ways of Jesus in the world,” he told MPR News, adding that churches “have become a threat to those in power when we care for our neighbors, provide safe spaces for our community members to gather in peace, and strive together toward justice”.

The church surveillance is one piece of a broader clandestine campaign that followed a surge of ICE and other federal agents into Minnesota over the winter.

Some operations fell under what officials called Operation Puppet Master, targeting what the government described as “violent opportunists,” guided by a 2025 executive memorandum directing law enforcement to prioritize investigating “anti-fascist” actors.

Homeland Security and the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office have been contacted for comment.