Right-wing influencers have flooded Minneapolis

In days since Masked federal agent Rene Nicole Goode was shot and killed, and right-wing creatives and influencers like Nick Surtor and Cam Higbee descended on Minneapolis, photographing protesters and interviewing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. So far they have produced a steady stream of content appearing Designed to portray Minneapolis as a lawless cityAnd actions ICE agents like Jonathan Rosswho reportedly shot and killed Jade in self-defense.

“Hell yeah! ICE just smashed a left-wing activist’s car window and took her out after interfering with ICE operations in Minneapolis. More of this!” Sorter Published on X on Sunday“The consequences must be very steep!”

These creators focused much of their content on how protesters are using personal vehicles and blocking traffic to disrupt ICE operations. In one video posted on Friday, Kevin Posobiec, creator of the far-right website Human Events, highlighted how protesters appeared to have blocked traffic in downtown Minneapolis.

“Protesters are wearing safety vests and manipulating traffic. We are here,” he wrote.

Once these clips were posted on platforms like X, and right-wing aggregator accounts, Like the end of waking up And other influencers Including Matt Walsh From the Daily Wire, repost it to their millions of followers. These clips then become talking points across social media, and sometimes even reach cable television, where they become key pieces of evidence in attempts to justify the Trump administration’s invasion of American cities.

The content appears to follow the same narrative as coming directly from DHS. In an interview with Fox News on MondayDHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claims Ross was protecting himself and other officers.

“(The officer) followed his training. He feared for his life. He feared for the law enforcement officers around his life,” McLaughlin says. “Then he continued his training and this situation turned deadly.”

The Trump administration has been preparing for this moment for months. Since at least last summer, influencers have been on the right It has been merged with immigration officials During ICE raids as a means of Justifying the administration’s repressive campaigns. Now, with a client under scrutiny for Judd’s murder, many of these same influencers are running a similar playbook.

Right-wing influencers began arriving in Minneapolis shortly after a YouTube video from Nick Shirley, a right-wing content creator, went viral in December claiming to have exposed an alleged $100 million fraud scheme involving Somali child care centers. Despite multiple local Minnesota outlets Covering a similar story for yearsThe video received more than three million views, with prominent right-wing figures such as Elon Musk reposting clips of it.

A law enforcement officer He told CNN earlier this month The increase in the number of DHS agents to Minnesota was due to Shirley’s video.

ICE’s influencer operations will expand. last month, the The Washington Post I mentioned The agency plans to spend about $100 million to use content creators and geo-targeted online ads to help recruit future deportation officers.