DHS Surveilled at Least Five Midwest Churches While Under a Federal Injunction Barring It; Undercover Agent Dropped a Body Recorder on a Minneapolis Church Gym Floor

Court filings unsealed in the prosecution of anti-ICE activists in Minnesota revealed that the Department of Homeland Security conducted surveillance of at least five Midwest churches — four in the Twin Cities and one in Michigan — while under a federal injunction that expressly prohibited it.

The churches and dates

• December 13, 2025 — First Universalist Church, Minneapolis
• February 1, 2026 — Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Roseville (ELCA)
• April 8, 2026 — Zion Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan (ELCA)
• April 12, 2026 (Sunday) — University Baptist Church, Minneapolis: agents monitored arrivals, ran vehicle checks, observed departures
• April 14, 2026 — St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, St. Paul
• April 19, 2026 (Sunday) — University Baptist Church: agents tracked attendees and recorded video of exits
• May 28, 2026 — University Baptist Church: an undercover agent secretly recorded a “Left Jab” mixed-martial-arts class held in the church gymnasium
• June 8, 2026 — University Baptist Church: agents observed a person entering the martial arts class

The injunction

On February 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV issued a preliminary injunction in New England Synod v. Department of Homeland Security (No. 4:25-cv-40102-FDS, D. Mass.) prohibiting warrantless enforcement actions — absent exigent circumstances — inside a church, at a church entrance, at a religious education facility, at a religious social-service facility, or on adjacent church property such as a parking lot. The order covers “arrest, seizure, search, interrogation, questioning, interview or investigation,” and warns that violations may bring sanctions and penalties including contempt of court.

Covered bodies include the American Baptist Churches USA, the Alliance of Baptists, Metropolitan Community Churches, ELCA regional synods, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, regional Quaker groups, and a California Sikh temple. University Baptist Church belongs to both the Alliance of Baptists and American Baptist Churches USA, placing it squarely within the order’s protection. Six of the eight documented surveillance events postdate the injunction.

The dropped recorder

During the May 28 session, the undercover agent — identified in filings as UCA-5022 — lost a concealed body-worn audio recorder. The HSI report states the device “erroneously fell to the floor of the gymnasium near the end of the training,” and that the agent “realized she no longer had the device, and returned to the gymnasium to retrieve the device from the floor.”

The church had posted signs on its property stating that federal agents were not permitted on the premises under the court order. The agent’s report does not mention the signs.

How it surfaced

Church leadership did not know of the surveillance until defense attorneys filed discovery motions in August 2026. The filings came in the prosecution of the “Minnesota 15” — activists charged with conspiracy to impede ICE officers — the same case that produced the “Operation Puppet Master” disclosures on August 13. Defense attorney Kevin Riach cited the surveillance as evidence of “abuses” demonstrating the “political animus driving the case.”

Response

Rev. Cody Sanders, University Baptist’s interim pastor: “We should not become accustomed to this. We should not let this become sort of the taken-for-granted, status-quo norm that we just expect, because this is wrong.”

Rev. Steve Sylvester, interim lead pastor at Prince of Peace: “It’s a strange time. Even with the kind of aberrations that we’ve been dealing with, typically people don’t sit down and think, ‘Well, the Stasi might know what I’m doing.’”

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons of Interfaith Alliance: “Trump’s surveillance of sacred sites is shameful. We can now see a pattern of government-sanctioned desecration of churches.”

Affected churches pursued court remedies; alleged violations of the preliminary injunction remained pending before Judge Saylor.

Significance

This is the church-facing half of the infiltration posture documented in Operation Puppet Master. It establishes three things at once: that the surveillance reached houses of worship, that six of the eight events occurred after a federal judge had expressly forbidden it, and that the government’s own report of the botched May 28 recording omits the posted signs that would have established notice.