Who Is Funding and Organizing the Minnesota Riots?
Who Is Funding and Organizing the Minnesota Riots?
January 26, 2026
As anti-ICE riots escalate in Minneapolis, the activist group Defend 612 has mobilized tens of thousands of supporters through encrypted communication networks to disrupt federal operations. An investigation into the group reveals a complex funding structure linking Defend 612 to liberal foundations, shell entities, politicians, and third-party organizations, some of which ultimately trace back to billionaire George Soros.
Defend 612 is a Minneapolis-based activist group that provides anti-ICE “know your rights” training, organizes and supports protests, and maintains a decentralized rapid-response network designed to interfere with ICE enforcement in real time. Its tactics include sending alerts through encrypted Signal chats, following ICE vehicles, swarming enforcement sites with observers and protesters, and whistle-blowing to warn potential targets.
On its website, Defend 612 claims that since the government launched “Operation Metro Surge” in the Twin Cities, “Somali, Latinx, and immigrant communities have faced relentless harassment, intimidation, abduction, detention, and deportation.” The group’s use of the term “abduction” rather than “arrest” reflects standard activist framing.
While Defend 612 does not argue that those targeted are legally present, it nonetheless seeks to shield illegal aliens from arrest and deportation, opposing the core function of immigration enforcement.
Defend 612 operates under fiscal sponsorship by Cooperation Cannon River (CCR), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Northfield, Minnesota (EIN: 82-0852275). Under this arrangement, CCR handles donations, financial management, and tax-exempt status on Defend 612’s behalf, allowing the group to operate without incorporating independently. Defend 612’s website directs donations to CCR, which describes its mission as supporting “social and environmental justice” initiatives.
In January 2026, watchdog groups including the Center for American Security and Advocacy (CASA) and the Functional Government Initiative filed IRS complaints alleging that Defend 612’s activities may violate CCR’s tax-exempt status by promoting interference with federal agents and encouraging potentially illegal actions.
CCR reported revenue of approximately $249,000 in its most recent IRS Form 990 filing for fiscal year 2024, reflecting significant growth from earlier filings showing net income and net assets of $48,409 in 2020.
CCR’s funding comes primarily from general contributions and foundation grants. Public filings list no program service revenue, significant direct government funding, or investment income, though indirect federal and state funding appears to flow through the broader network.
In December 2023, The Solutions Project awarded $50,000 to CCR through its Fund for Frontline Power, as documented in Cause IQ records and reported by Alpha News. The Solutions Project, co-founded by actor Mark Ruffalo and led by Gloria Walton, supports climate justice organizations, often emphasizing groups led by women of color, immigrants, and Indigenous communities.
The Tides Foundation provided at least $10,000 to CCR. Tides is a donor-advised fund that channels money to liberal causes and has funded similar Minnesota organizations, including Copal MN ($50,000) and Unidos MN. George Soros is linked to CCR through Tides via his Open Society Foundations (OSF), which he has funded with more than $32 billion.
OSF contributed $25.8 million to Tides between 2020 and 2021 and more than $20 million overall, with funds directed toward immigration activism and protest-related causes. Tides-backed efforts have included the 2025 “No Kings” anti-Trump protests, pro-Palestinian campus activism, and Black Lives Matter initiatives. A 2025 Black Lives Matter lawsuit against Tides over $33 million illustrates the scale of funding moving through this channel.
Soros-linked funding extends beyond Tides. The Sixteen Thirty Fund, heavily financed by OSF, gave Unidos MN $150,000 in 2024. Unidos MN also received $400,000 from the Ford Foundation that year, while other major foundations, including MacArthur, support the same immigration-advocacy ecosystem through coordinated grant-making.
Public funds also enter the Defend 612 ecosystem through indirect pass-through channels. MN350, a Minnesota nonprofit that has donated to both CCR and the Defend 612 network, received $100,000 in state tax funding through a Minnesota DNR grant for community forestry and climate resiliency. While Defend 612 does not receive state funding directly, its fiscal sponsor benefits from the resources and grant access of larger national organizations.
These include The Solutions Project, which leverages private donations from figures such as Leonardo DiCaprio to help groups like CCR access federal EPA funding, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which manages millions in federal contracts for the Department of State and provides grant-making infrastructure to local partners.
Additional support flows through intermediary organizations such as the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, which facilitates donations to CCR and Defend 612 projects. Although ACF does not rely on direct government funding, it manages large capital inflows, including more than $26 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and substantial Ford Foundation grants, to support policy advocacy that influences public spending. Together, this structure creates a funding trail in which private wealth and federal grant initiatives move through layers of national foundations and fiscal sponsors before reaching local Minnesota efforts linked to Defend 612.
Links between Defend 612 and prominent politicians appear largely indirect and network-based, operating through overlapping activist ecosystems rather than formal relationships. Defend 612 has been described as part of a broader activist network that includes the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate group closely associated with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Sunrise played a role in Ocasio-Cortez’s rise through actions such as the 2018 sit-ins at Nancy Pelosi’s office and collaboration on the Green New Deal in 2019. Conservative outlets, including the Daily Wire and commentator Julie Kelly, claim Sunrise provides organizational or promotional support to Defend 612 as part of a broader anti-ICE ecosystem, though there is no evidence of direct involvement by Ocasio-Cortez.
Sunrise has also received endorsements from figures such as Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo, though these celebrity ties are focused on climate activism rather than immigration enforcement disruption.
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Author: Antonio Graceffo
