Investigations reveal: Secret deployment plans after the death of Renee Good

After the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer, the Department of Homeland Security did not respond with transparency or clarification, but with a show of force. Under the name “Operation Metro Surge,” hundreds of additional federal forces are to be deployed to Minneapolis. Outwardly, the government sells this as determination. The internal documents tell a different story. They show a department that doubts, hesitates, and does not trust its own people.

The document shows that the so-called Operation Metro Surge is not routine interagency assistance, but a covertly organized large-scale operation with national coordination. Participating officers are explicitly instructed to wear neither uniforms nor insignia, to completely conceal their affiliation with law enforcement agencies in public spaces, to pass on no operational information whatsoever, and to strictly control even their private movements and social media activity. At the same time, the operation is centrally billed under its own project code, including all regular working hours and overtime, underscoring the planned scope and institutional significance. The explosiveness lies precisely in this combination: a massive federal operation on domestic soil that is meant to remain invisible outwardly, while its costs and personnel are meticulously recorded and which clearly anticipates public reactions, protests, or escalations. The OPSEC instructions do not read like routine, but like preparation for a hostile environment, making clear that the state is operating with covert presence while simultaneously trying to maintain control over perception, responsibility, and traceability.

The deployment order speaks of around 300 additional forces to be brought into the city within a few days. Two thirds are Border Patrol agents in operational service, with another contingent for processing and coordination. The timeline is tight, the situation allegedly “highly dynamic.” Above all, however, one word stands out that says everything in this context: volunteers. The agency is asking its own units to scrape together personnel because the operation is clearly not met with enthusiasm. There are enough people, officers say. But many do not want to go.

The TDY information sheet makes clear that Operation Metro Surge is not a short-term support measure, but a longer-term federal operation. Volunteers are planned for an assignment of up to 32 days in Minneapolis, explicitly classified as mission-critical and directly serving the enforcement of investigations, laws, and immigration policy. Even before departure, travel authorizations must be entered into the internal system and a legal briefing on the use of force and operational practice must be read as mandatory, underscoring the sensitivity of the mission. The explosiveness lies in the fact that this measure is labeled as a routine duty trip, while in reality it prepares a longer-term, centrally directed presence of federal forces on domestic soil, combined with strict legal requirements and control mechanisms. The state is organizing a covert, deliberate escalation over time that appears inconspicuous outwardly, but is treated internally as high-risk and prone to conflict.

The reason is obvious. The political leadership has publicly labeled the death of Renee Good as an act of domestic terrorism and spread a version that is contradicted by video footage. Everyone inside the agency knows this. For many operational forces, a line has been crossed. Anyone who uses a demonstrably false narrative to justify lethal force sends a clear signal downward. Truth does not matter, loyalty does. And that is exactly what makes the operation dangerous.

The memorandum is a formal warning and deployment order for the short-term expansion of Operation Metro Surge and documents the hasty escalation at the federal level. On instructions from the Department of Homeland Security, around 300 additional Border Patrol forces are to be moved to Minneapolis, with an extremely tight time window and explicitly subject to constant changes. Particularly explosive is the fact that the operation is not ordered through regular channels, but organized via a call for volunteers, while at the same time the names of selected forces are to be reported to headquarters with very short notice. This points to considerable internal pressure and a lack of willingness to deploy. The combination of rapid mobilization, an uncertain situation assessment, and improvised personnel recruitment shows that the measure is politically desired but operationally fragile. The state is not reacting from a position of stable control, but is attempting under time pressure to create a massive presence whose viability is apparently questioned even internally.

The leaked documents show just how great the nervousness is. Parallel to the search for volunteers, the Border Patrol is sending internal warnings. Officers are to wear no uniform, not even parts of it, when entering or leaving their hotels. Insignia must not be visible. Location services on phones are to be turned off, social media profiles set to private. Meetings, deployment sites, even harmless details must not leak outward. This is not the language of sovereignty. It is the language of an apparatus that expects resistance.

Added to this is a legal reminder. Deployment forces are explicitly reminded that insults, verbal abuse, or obscene gestures from citizens are not criminal offenses. No oversight, no footnote. This passage is there because it is apparently feared that precisely such situations could escalate. When an agency feels compelled to explain once again, just before a large-scale deployment, what does not constitute a crime, it knows that something is at risk of going wrong.

Particularly explosive is the time frame. Metro Surge is not a short action, not a weekend maneuver. Internal travel documents speak of an assignment of up to 32 days. The operation is classified as “mission-critical” and is clearly assigned to law enforcement and immigration enforcement. Everything is meticulously recorded, every hour, every overtime hour, every dollar booked under its own project code. This is not a spontaneous reflex, but a centrally directed approach with national dimensions.

Experienced officers warn internally of the consequences. If not enough seasoned personnel volunteer, the newcomers will be sent, straight from training into a city already under strain. Inexperienced forces, politically heated rhetoric, a leadership that publicly spreads untruths and internally urges caution. That is a mix no one can control. What these leaks show is not strength, but fear. Fear of public reaction, fear of further escalation, fear that the chosen line will not hold. Outwardly, the language of war is used; inwardly, people are asked to be quiet, to hide, and to make no mistakes. Minneapolis thus becomes the site of an experiment in which not only the city, but also the credibility of the state, is at stake.

When power becomes nothing more than an assertion, and even one’s own people are no longer convinced, it becomes unpredictable. That is the real explosive substance of these documents.

To be continued .....