Senator calls out ‘grassroots’ anti-ICE groups, urges DOJ investigation into ‘coordinated national operation'

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling out what he described as anti-ICE agitators "presenting" as grassroots organizations across the country Tuesday, urging a Justice Department investigation into what he said reporting suggests is actually a "coordinated national operation." Hawley called for the investigation in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi obtained by Fox News Digital, saying there is evidence that the agitators are "substantially financed and professionally organized by wealthy left-wing organizations." "Recent reporting indicates that these protests are neither spontaneous nor decentralized. Instead, they reflect a coordinated national operation supported by layered nonprofit pass-through entities, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, and short-lived 'grassroots' fronts designed to obscure donor identity, funding sources, and operational control," Hawley wrote. "The scale, geographic simultaneity, messaging uniformity, and logistical sophistication of these operations strongly suggest centralized planning and financing inconsistent with lawful domestic advocacy," he continued. MINNESOTA AGITATOR ARRESTED IN WAKE OF CHURCH INVASION, BONDI SAYS Hawley said that if foreign groups are linked to the alleged funding schemes it could violate "federal prohibitions on foreign influence." He argued such funding schemes could also amount to "racketeering." "Given the public-safety and national-security implications, the Department’s immediate attention is warranted. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice promptly open a full investigation into these funding networks," Hawley wrote. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 'MOB MENTALITY' ENDANGERS OFFICERS AMID ANTI-ICE UNREST AND CHAOS IN MINNEAPOLIS, RETIRED COPS WARN The letter comes as anti-ICE agitators have cau…