Paul Ervin Johnson

Paul Ervin Johnson was a Minneapolis contractor who documented and protested federal immigration operations during Operation Metro Surge. On January 22, 2026 he followed federal agents in his van and stopped to observe them in a north Minneapolis parking lot. The government alleged that he approached their vehicle with a baseball bat and later sprayed pepper spray; Johnson said masked agents pulled him from the van and beat him unconscious, causing a traumatic brain injury and torn rotator cuff. Agents kept him shackled to a hospital bed for five days without access to his phone. Prosecutors first filed a felony assault complaint and later reduced the case to a misdemeanor. After defense filings challenged the agents’ account and affidavits, the government moved to dismiss. The court dismissed the case with prejudice in July 2026.