The Death of Democracy: How This Far-Left Group Trains Jurors to Acquit Criminals

MINNEAPOLIS, MN- Jury Nullification- Jury nullification occurs when a jury, based on their own sense of justice, refuse to follow the law, and acquit a defendant even when the evidence presented seems to point to an incontrovertible verdict of guilty. 

Perhaps the most famous case where jury nullification appeared to have taken place was the O.J. Simpson trial, where he was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Despite overwhelming physical and circumstantial evidence, Simpson was acquitted. Several jurors admitted afterward that they found Simpson not guilty as “payback” for the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. 

Now, Alpha News is reporting that a Minneapolis-based far-left activist network is openly advertising “jury nullification training,” which is raising not only eyebrows but concerns about the integrity of jury trials in the Minneapolis metro area. 

Attempting to get a fair trial in a clearly partisan area has proven to be a huge issue over the past several years. Trials in Washington, D.C., of January 6 defendants is a clear example of jury nullification in reverse. Many defendants who merely walked into the Capitol, invited by Capitol police officers, were found guilty of enhanced crimes due to the fact that the DC Metro area is overwhelmingly populated by Democrats. Acquittals, if they even occurred, were rare. 

Defend612, an anti-ICE group that supports “resistance to the ICE ‘occupation’ in Minneapolis,” is promoting sessions titled “The People’s Pardon or Jury Nullification,” with two such events scheduled in the coming weeks. 

One event description defines the effort: “Because when systems fail to deliver justice, the people must.” 

“Jury Nullification is a legal tactic that has been used to protect one another from unjust laws and political persecution,” it reads. “We will learn about jury nullification–or the people’s pardon–how it’s been used, ways it can stem authoritarian outreach, and how we can use it today.” 

An email sent to supporters says the training sessions are being held to “protect[ing] our local heroes through Jury Nullification.” 

Alpha News previously reported on a Minnesota Democratic Party official pushing followers to use jury nullification in a federal case involving an assault against an ICE officer. 

That official, Nick Kruse, a former vice president of the Minnesota Young DFL and current at-large director of Stonewall DFL, wrote in a post on X, which has since been deleted, that “no one should be going to prison for defending our city against ICE.” 

Such tactics are par for the course for Democrats, who stood by and did nothing as the Biden administration allowed tens of millions of illegals to invade our country and now complain when the Trump administration is trying to undo the damage they did. Democrats always take the side of criminals over law enforcement. 

The case Kruse was referring to involves psychotic leftist Claire Louise Feng, who is accused of biting off the tip of a Border Patrol agent’s finger during a physical struggle in Minneapolis. 

Kruse told his followers to spread information about jury nullification and advised them to “act neutral” during the voir dire process, which is where jury selection takes place. 

The jury nullification idea comes as the federal government is attempting to prosecute several anti-ICE activists who disrupted Minnesotans exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of religion at a St. Paul church last month, a stunt that swept up failed CNN host Don Lemon, who was subsequently indicted by a grand jury. There are several hundred other agitators who are facing charges in connection with usually violent anti-ICE activity. 

Alpha News reached out to a long-time Twin Cities attorney, Doug Wardlow, and asked him about calls from Kruise to lie by acting neutral during jury selection in order to get seated to a jury and then vote to acquit defendants despite proof of guilt. 

“If you are telling people to lie in court to obtain a position on a jury and then engage in jury nullification for the express purpose of ensuring that the laws are not prosecuted and enforced against offenders, that seems to me to be illegal,” Wardlow said. 

While admitting that jury nullification is nothing new and has a long history in the American legal system, organized efforts to train potential jurors with the stated goal of nullifying juries raises significant ethical concerns. 

“Jury nullification can be an important tool for resisting tyranny,” Wardlow said. “On the other hand, if you’re organizing training for jury nullification as a means of essentially obstructing the enforcement of the law in cases where there is no overreach, that seems to me to be highly improper.” 

The loons at Defend612 are even eating their own, criticizing far-left Democrats, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, all Democrats, for not being good little psychopaths and allegedly siding with “the rich and powerful,” claiming that everyday residents are being put at risk. 

In a message sent to supporters, organizers claimed that the three have refused to “even wear a whistle,” a childish tactic employed by anti-government zealots, claiming that by doing so they are not showing “solidarity” to the unhinged masses. 

The email asks recipients to “keep building power,” “keep patrolling our streets,” and “keep coming together.” 

In a previous report, Alpha News, citing an investigation by City Journal, raised serious questions about Defend612 and its role in encouraging sheep-like civilians to confront federal immigration agents. 

Two high-profile January incidents involving Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two anti-ICE agitators who were killed by ICE agents, came after both had been participants in so-called “ICE watching,” a tactic used by anti-immigration enforcement activists that involved tracking and filming federal agents while alerting others to enforcement operations. 

City Journal identified Defend612 as a “major” organizing hub, reporting that the group oversaw a “sprawling network of Signal chats” that were designed to monitor immigration enforcement, coordinate protests, and mobilize so-called “rapid response” teams across Minneapolis neighborhoods, Alpha News reported.