(Alpha News): A Minneapolis-based activist network is now openly advertising “jury nullification training,” raising new concerns about the integrity of jury trials in the Twin Cities.
Defend612, which seeks to support “resistance to the ICE occupation in Minneapolis,” is promoting two virtual sessions titled “The People’s Pardon or Jury Nullification,” scheduled in the coming weeks.
One event description frames the effort: “Because when systems fail to deliver justice, the people must.”
“Jury Nullification is a legal tactic has been [sic] used to protect one another from unjust laws and political persecution,” the description says. “We will learn about jury nullification — or the people’s pardon — how it’s been used, ways it can stem authoritarian overreach, and how we can use it today.”
In an email to supporters, Defend612 described the trainings as a means of “protecting our local heroes through Jury Nullification.”
From online posts to organized instruction
Jury nullification occurs when jurors vote to acquit a defendant despite believing the law was broken, often because they oppose the law itself or how it is enforced.
Last month, Alpha News reported on a Minnesota Democratic Party official urging his followers to use jury nullification in a federal case involving an assault against an immigration enforcement officer.
Nick Kruse, a former vice president of the Minnesota Young DFL and current at-large director of Stonewall DFL, wrote in a since-deleted post on X that “no one should be going to prison for defending our city against ICE.”
Kruse was referring to the federal case of Claire Louise Feng, who is accused of biting off the tip of a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s finger during a struggle in Minneapolis.
He encouraged followers to spread information about jury nullification and to “act neutral” during voir dire — the jury selection process — in order to get seated.
Defend612’s training comes as the federal government seeks to prosecute several anti-ICE activists who disrupted a St. Paul church service last month as well as hundreds of others who are reportedly facing charges in connection to anti-ICE activity.
Veteran attorney raises concerns
Alpha News asked Doug Wardlow, a Twin Cities attorney with more than two decades of experience, about calls from the Democratic activist to act neutral during jury selection in order to get seated and acquit defendants — as suggested in the Feng fingertip case.
“If you are telling people to lie to the court to obtain a position on a jury and then engage in jury nullification for the express purpose of ensuring that the laws are not prosecuted and enforced against offenders, that seems to me to be illegal,” stated Wardlow.
He said that while jury nullification has a long history in American law, organized efforts to train potential jurors with the goal of derailing prosecutions raise serious ethical concerns.
“Jury nullification can be an important tool for resisting tyranny,” Wardlow said. “On the other hand, if you’re organizing training for jury nullification as a means of essentially obstructing the enforcement of the law in cases where there is no overreach, that seems to me to be highly improper.”
Group unhappy with Walz for not wearing a whistle
The messaging in a Defend612 announcement also reveals growing hostility toward Democratic leadership at the state and city level.
In one message circulated to supporters, organizers accuse Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, along with Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, of siding with “the rich and powerful” while putting everyday residents at risk.
The message claims officials have refused to “even wear a whistle” in solidarity with activists — a reference to anti-ICE protest tactics — and notes that “hundreds face state and federal charges.”
The email urges recipients to “keep building power,” “keep patrolling our streets,” and “keep coming together.”
In-depth City Journal investigation ties Defend612 to risky anti-ICE activism
Alpha News previously reported on an earlier investigation by City Journal that raised serious questions about the role Defend612 — the group now promoting jury nullification — may have played in encouraging civilians to confront federal immigration agents.
The City Journal report found that two Minneapolis activists killed in separate incidents in January — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — had both been participants in “ICE watching,” a tactic used by anti-immigration enforcement activists that involves tracking and filming federal agents and alerting others to enforcement actions.
At the center of that movement, City Journal identified Defend612 as a major organizing hub. According to the report, Defend612 oversaw a sprawling network of Signal chats used to monitor immigration enforcement, coordinate protests, and mobilize rapid-response actions across Minneapolis neighborhoods.
