The anti-ICE mobilization that unfolded around the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last week mirrored the methods used to overthrow governments and spark bloody revolutions around the globe, according to a Fox News Digital analysis.
Encrypted Signal chats, command-and-control centers, rapid-response propaganda and orchestrated tear-gas clashes with law enforcement have served to mobilize forces and manipulate public opinion in the ongoing conflict. Close analysis of guidelines distributed online by anti-ICE groups and the minute-by-minute events surrounding the Pretti’s death reveal tactics and strategy well-known to military and intelligence analysts as the elements of global insurgencies.
“The violence and rebellion that we’re seeing on the streets of Minneapolis is like an insurgency,” said Rick de la Torre, a retired CIA senior operations officer and chief of station.
De la Torre, who has tracked insurgency groups globally from Afghanistan to the Philippines for 20 years, told Fox News Digital he believes the effort is being directed and funded from overseas.
“All of the evidence I’ve seen indicates to me that the insurgency is funded by foreign adversaries who want to see violence and Americans fighting each other,” said de la Torre, now founder of Tower Strategies, an advisory firm based in Washington, D.C.
Core U.S. government manuals, such as the “CIA Guide to the Analysis of Insurgency” and the U.S. Army’s “Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies,” describe how decentralized movements embed within civilian populations, rely on rapid communications, exploit triggering events and sustain momentum through logistics, narrative control and persistent surveillance of their perceived adversaries.
In the case of the anti-ICE network, many of the organizations involved are self-described Marxist-Leninists, with the ANSWER Coalition, the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and BreakThrough News funded by an American-born tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, living in Shanghai supporting the communist regime that runs the People’s Republic of China.
“What these groups are trying to do is destroy everything that makes America great: our history, our belief systems, our freedoms, our family unit, our self, our religion, everything. In their minds, all that has to be destroyed so that the system they want to bring about can be progressed,” said de la Torre. “That means the end of free enterprise and America as we know it.”
Across anti-ICE guides circulated in Minnesota, several recurring tactical elements parallel those insurgency tactics with a clear “command and control” of the operation, another feature of insurgencies:
“The usage of hi-tech equipment, communications, the tactics they employ to track individuals, to break things up into zones, to have a chain of command. Someone is in charge of communications, someone is in charge of moving people, someone is in charge of even medical help. This is all textbook violent revolution,” de la Torre said.
A new video by the News Movement captured Pretti cursing and spitting at federal agents on Jan. 13, 11 days before his death, as they arrived at a street corner. He kicked out a rear bumper light on the agents’ SUV before a federal agent jumped out and tackled him as ICE Watch “rapid responders” blew whistles, took videos and cursed at agents. What appeared to be a gun was visible in the waistband of Pretti, who was carrying a handgun when his fatal encounter with Border Patrol agents occurred.
“This is not Martin Luther King sitting at a café counter,” said de La Torre. “They didn’t throw things at cops. They didn’t bite cops or yell or blow whistles. They politely smiled and allowed themselves to get arrested. That’s peaceful protesting. What we’re seeing is violent insurrection. And we’re seeing violent insurrection promoted by many members of the Democratic Party. They know this.”
JONATHAN TURLEY: DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS ARE RISKING LIVES WITH RECKLESS ANTI-ICE RHETORIC
A timeline of events surrounding Pretti’s killing illustrates how those tactics were implemented in real time and how the incident functions as a window into a broader tactical strategy.
What happened: At 8:45 a.m, ICE Watch “rapid responders” added the first license plate and movement of suspected ICE vehicles and agents in an “MN ICE Plate” database. Reports continued throughout the day, revealing the sustained monitoring of their work.
ICE Watch tactic: The guides formalize patrol roles, including “foot patrol,” “dispatch” and “mobile patrol / commuter,” which is designed by the car and air 🚗💨 emojis. Mobile units have core tasks of license plate collection and vehicle pattern tracking.
Insurgency doctrine parallel: Military doctrine describes irregular networks as relying heavily on “pattern-of-life” intelligence, systematically tracking adversary movements to anticipate, disrupt and publicize government activity.
LIBERAL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM BLUESKY FLOODED WITH USERS CALLING FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST ICE AGENTS
What happened: A Signal user, “Willow,” posted a 22-second video from inside Glam Doll Donuts, followed by messages reading “26and 3rd” and “Outside Glam Doll,” documenting federal agents at Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Avenue. The day before, Glam Doll Donuts had closed its shop for business to join a protest, “ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA.” In the video, someone shouted, “Get out of here!” to the federal agents.
ICE Watch tactic: The “Best Practices Guide for Neighborhood or Area Patrol / Monitors: 612” stresses the use of Signal group calls for live, on-scene reporting.
Insurgency doctrine parallel: Intelligence manuals note that insurgencies depend on dense local networks and rapid information dissemination to shape perceptions and mobilize supporters, often by exploiting a “population’s concerns and grievances.”
What happened: Another Signal user, “Salacious B. Crumb,” escalated the alert, sending the message: “Backup needed at the Black Forest Inn parking lot on Nicollet Ave just south of 26th Street,” by Glam Doll Donuts, adding: “One confirmed ICE vehicle seen was a maroon Dodge Durango.”
ICE Watch tactic: The 612 guide coordinates “Dispatch – Live on the Monitor / Patrol group” with the ☎ emoji to alert members to heightened federal agent movements.
Insurgency doctrine parallel: Military analysts note that effective insurgent movements maintain something called “command and control” despite decentralization, relying on communications discipline and pre-assigned roles rather than formal hierarchies.
What happened: Pretti and other anti-ICE activists stepped into the middle of Nicollet Avenue to direct traffic outside Glam Doll Donuts, with fellow anti-ICE agitators blowing whistles to alert locals that ICE officers were around.
ICE Watch tactic: The manuals explicitly describe the use of whistles and horns as rapid, low-tech alert systems to activate surrounding community members and draw attention to federal activity.
Insurgency doctrine parallel: Such immediate, visible mobilization aligns with “rapid response” techniques described in insurgency literature, where “triggering events” are used to quickly activate local populations.
What happened: At least one federal agent shot Alex Pretti outside Glam Doll Donuts on Nicollet Avenue, killing him.
ICE Watch tactic: Manuals have been updated to direct members of ICE Watch patrols to avoid direct confrontation with law enforcement authorities, but the back-room message has been to instigate confrontations that can then be filmed and turned into propaganda for the effort.
Insurgency doctrine parallel: Military manuals emphasize that “kinetic actions” – or violent, physical and lethal actions – involving government forces often become catalytic moments and symbolic events that can be leveraged to accelerate mobilization and escalate a narrative of state-sponsored cruelty.
What happened: The signal network erupted with an urgent red-phone alert: “☎️URGENT: observers urgently requested at glam doll donuts @ 26th & nicollet. an observer has been shot by ice, unknown condition, emts present, please be safe. EDIT: medics requested to join perimeter in case agents start gassing.”
ICE Watch tactic: The guides instruct members to rapidly summon medics, establish perimeters and prepare for anticipated law-enforcement countermeasures such as gas deployment.
Insurgency doctrine: The U.S. Army manual emphasizes the importance of the “information environment” immediately after violence, noting that logistics, medical support and messaging function as force multipliers for sustained irregular activity.
What happened: BreakThrough News, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and propaganda arm of the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, posted a video of the killing, filmed from inside Glam Doll Donuts, calling it “Another CBP Shooting…” It’s been funded by tech tycoon, Singham, living in China.
ICE Watch tactic: The field guides dedicate entire sections to cultural production, media engagement and rapid narrative dissemination following high-profile incidents.
Insurgency doctrine: Military analysts describe propaganda and imagery as core tools for shaping perceptions, reinforcing in-group identity and portraying government actions as illegitimate or repressive.
MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: THE LEFT IS GETTING PEOPLE KILLED
What happened: The Party for Socialism and Liberation published a poster on social media, saying, “CPB MURDERS ANOTHER IN MINNEAPOLIS,” with the message, “EXPAND THE GENERAL STRIKE!”
ICE Watch tactic: The ICE Watch manuals include workplace-focused tactics and “non-cooperation,” including ways to sabotage ICE activities and engage in noncompliance.
Insurgency doctrine: U.S. Army guidance identifies economic disruption and government paralysis as classic insurgent strategies designed to demonstrate power and force concessions.
What happened: The People’s Forum posted an “EMERGENCY PROTEST” call for 4 p.m. ET in NYC.
ICE Watch tactic: The guides emphasize “city-wide/state-wide coordination” and “rapid response networks” through shared platforms like Signal and Action Network to rapidly scale actions beyond the original incident location.
Insurgency doctrine: Experts say effective insurgency movements synchronize “distributed nodes,” like cells and chapters, to create the appearance – and reality – of momentum across multiple boundaries.
What happened: Democratic Socialists of America posted a graphic calling the killing an “execution” and demanding “ABOLISH ICE NOW.”
ICE Watch tactic: The manuals stress narrative shaping and mass communication that results in “consciousness-raising” and expanding resistance into “every home and every block.”
Insurgency doctrine: Counterinsurgency doctrine describes this as a “legitimacy contest” with competing claims intended to erode confidence in government forces and institutions.
What happened: The Party for Socialism and Liberation and other socialist, Marxist-Leninist and communist groups asserted that Pretti was “murdered” and declared later, “We will continue the struggle for justice in his memory!”
ICE Watch tactic: Sustaining morale through messages of reaffirmation is repeatedly emphasized in the manuals.
Insurgency doctrine: Experts note that martyr narratives and “commitment signaling” are used to sustain recruitment, cohesion and risk tolerance.
What happened: Signal alerts continued into the following day, including reports of “2 confirmed ICE vehicles… at least 2 agents in each vehicle,” indicating ongoing surveillance and situational awareness well after the initial incident.
ICE Watch tactic: The license-plate tracker, vehicle identification guides and persistent patrol roles are designed for long-duration monitoring rather than one-off responses.
Insurgency doctrine: Intelligence manuals describe sustained surveillance as a defining feature of mature insurgent networks, enabling anticipation of government actions and reinforcing the perception of omnipresent resistance.
