MANKATO — Wine, pizza and organizing. That’s what was on tap at a community-hosted gathering at the Wine Cafe Friday night.
Cameron Kennedy, a Minneapolis-based activist originally from Mankato, took to the bar’s patio to host Ask an Anarchist, an open discussion about Operation Metro Surge, Kennedy’s experience as an anarchist and how people in Mankato can engage in community-oriented activism.
Kennedy was among the 15 Minnesotans charged in a federal indictment filed June 11 in connection with coordinating anti-ICE efforts during Operation Metro Surge this winter.
All 15 defendants face conspiracy charges for impeding or injuring a federal officer. Some face additional charges, including solicitation to commit a crime of violence, interstate threats and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said in a June 16 news conference that the defendants are tied to the group Direct Action Minnesota, which the indictment describes as “dedicated and committed to direct action against federal law and immigration enforcement.”
Kennedy was arrested, along with 11 others, after the indictment. He’s currently on conditional release and said that he’s been receiving a lot of support since.
“Neighbors came over, dropped off money, dropped off food for us, very much in the same kind of spirit as what we saw during the resistance to ICE in Operation Metro Surge,” Kennedy said. “Minneapolis is good at taking care of its own.”
There have been a handful of Ask an Anarchist events this spring, but Friday’s was the first since the charges against Kennedy and the other activists came out.
While Kennedy addressed the day of his arrest — which he said included a squad of SUVs, a helicopter and a team of door kickers with assault rifles and a battering ram showing up at his door at 6 a.m. — he primarily focused on the state of the antifascist movement and how people can get involved.
To him, the indictment was unsurprising.
“I think anarchists have been intentionally targeted because the state sees us as a threat, and I also think it’s because we have a lot of appeal with people,” Kennedy said. “A lot of the tactics that were used during Operation Metro Surge come straight out of the anarchist playbook, and are tactics that have developed over the years of struggle in Minneapolis.”
Having done anarchist work for around 20 years, he’s seen the challenging consequences of activism. He said he anticipates the government making additional rounds of arrests, expanding to groups beyond anarchists.
He suggested that to move forward, people, whether they’re living in the Twin Cities or Mankato, organize their workplaces and rental units to protect one another.
“We organize every aspect of our society so that when they come for one of us, we have the ability to defend ourselves and to support each other,” Kennedy said.
Mankato isn’t just where Kennedy is from; it’s where he developed his politics, he said. He’s been an activist since his teen years and encouraged everyone at Ask an Anarchist to continue fostering the city’s radical culture.
“Mankato has already, at a national level, thrown well above its weight, and I think the city deserves credit,” Kennedy said. “This is a scrappy, working-class city full of people who actually are stubborn as f—, and if you’re from here, you’re not a f—- — idiot, you care about people.”
The indictment hasn’t swayed Kennedy. While “spite” may be the joking excuse for why he keeps going, the truth is much deeper than that.
“It’s honestly a motivation to protect our communities and carry a better world in our hearts,” Kennedy said. “I, and other people like me, have refused to believe that this is the best humanity can do, and that we can improve our conditions by organizing directly.”