by Sharad Swaney
Dear Room,
An undercover federal agent walked into a Baptist church in Minneapolis with a recorder hidden on her body.
The church had posted signs at every main entrance warning federal agents that the entire building was protected by a court order. Homeland Security had already been given its name and address.
The agent went inside anyway.
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The recorder hit the floor.
On May 28, the agent joined a martial arts class held in the gymnasium beneath University Baptist Church’s sanctuary.
She sparred with people. She asked questions. She secretly recorded them.
Then, according to the government’s own report, her concealed recorder fell onto the church floor. She left the building, realized it was missing, and returned to retrieve it.
That accident is the only reason we can picture the operation so clearly. An undercover government agent standing inside a church, looking around for the wire she had dropped.
The government did not stumble across this church. It was given the address, shown the order, and went inside anyway.
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It was not one church.
Court records reviewed by Religion News Service indicate that DHS agents surveilled at least five churches in Minnesota and Michigan.
Agents watched people enter and leave church property, including on Sundays. They photographed cars. They ran license plates to identify their owners. Undercover operatives entered meetings held inside Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Unitarian Universalist churches.
The churches did not learn about the surveillance from DHS. They discovered it when the government’s internal reports surfaced in a criminal case against 15 anti-ICE protesters.
The operation had a name: “Operation Puppet Master.”
The Associated Press reported that the surveillance stretched beyond churches. Agents infiltrated meetings in libraries, schools, and parks. They monitored group chats and used license plates to build lists of people attending political gatherings.
A government presentation called “The Conspiracy” displayed 18 organizations, including major labor unions and a Minneapolis bicycle repair collective.
The court order was already there.
On February 13, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV entered an injunction protecting churches represented by several religious organizations.
The order covered searches, questioning, interviews, and investigations connected to immigration enforcement. It warned that violations could result in sanctions or contempt of court.
University Baptist Church appeared on the protected list on February 27. The church posted its warning signs on March 11.
The undercover operation happened on May 28.
On August 24, Judge Saylor ordered the administration to explain why it should not be held in contempt. The government must respond by August 28, with a hearing expected next month.
The judge has not issued a final contempt ruling yet. That part matters.
The government’s excuse.
The administration argues that the operation was a criminal investigation, not immigration enforcement. It also claimed that the activity inside the church gym was not central to the church’s religious mission.
The churches’ lawyers answered that the gym sits inside the church building, directly beneath the sanctuary. The whole building was listed as protected.
Their response was simple: DHS cannot decide that a protected church stops being protected whenever agents want to enter it, then invent a justification afterward.
That argument is now sitting in front of a federal judge.
Why I am asking.
I keep returning to the sign on the door.
It named the court case. It told federal agents that the building was protected. The church did everything the judge required, and an undercover operative still crossed the threshold wearing a recorder.
This is why independent reporting matters. The government called this “Puppet Master” and buried the details inside legal filings. Somebody still has to read those pages and tell you what happened.
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The quiet part.
The scariest part is not only that federal agents watched these churches.
It is what happens the next Sunday.
Every person walking into a church now has a reason to look at the stranger sitting behind them and wonder whether the government sent them. Every car in the parking lot becomes a possible entry in a federal file. Every conversation becomes something people may be afraid to have.
Surveillance does not need to arrest everyone to work. It only needs people to believe they are being watched.
A church is supposed to be where frightened people go for sanctuary. In Trump’s America, the sanctuary itself was placed under surveillance.
One thing before you go. Please restack this post. People need to see what federal agents were doing inside American churches, and a restack is the fastest way to make sure they do.
Thank you for being in this room.
— Sharad
Become a paid subscriber to my personal Substack →
If you want to support this work or donate without a subscription, you can chip in directly through Venmo at @sharadswaney or you can buy me a coffee. Every bit genuinely helps keep the reporting going.
A note for the room: I am 20 years old, running a nonprofit and this publication on my own. I work with research and editing tools, including Claude, an AI assistant, to keep up, the way other reporters work with editors and fact-checkers. Every quote and every source in this post was verified by me before anything went live. Other people will not tell you this, but I really care about journalistic integrity. Letting you know I use these tools to help me do this work all on my own is important to me. The room means trust, and trust means I tell you how the work gets made.
Federal court declaration and injunction — confirms the church was protected, DHS had its address, and warning signs were posted.
Associated Press investigation — Operation Puppet Master, undercover infiltration, license-plate checks, financial records, and targeted organizations.
Religion News Service — surveillance involving at least five churches in Minnesota and Michigan.
Plaintiffs’ August 23 court filing — challenges DHS’s excuses and explains why the church remained legally protected.
The Independent’s August 24 update — judge orders the administration to explain why it should not be held in contempt.
FOX 9 Minneapolis — local reporting on repeated surveillance and the concealed recording device.
Daily Beast report — details how the undercover agent dropped and retrieved the hidden recorder.
Original February injunction opinion — Judge Saylor’s reasoning and restrictions on warrantless enforcement inside churches.
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