Former military contractor Nathan Seabrook brought battlefield tactics to Minneapolis in 2021, turning a local mall into a flashpoint for questions about private security, police violence, and the legacy of America's forever wars, as detailed in a piece by Eamon Whalen for Mother Jones. After George Floyd's murder and the unrest that followed, Seabrook, an Iraq veteran, returned home and founded the Conflict Resolution Group, a private security firm staffed by former soldiers and contractors. CRG was hired to clear protesters from a memorial garden at the Seven Points mall, where a Black man, Winston Smith, had been killed by law enforcement. Seabrook treated the operation like a military mission, arriving before dawn with his team in tactical gear, carrying weapons, and coordinating with Minneapolis police.
Seabrook described the protesters as dangerous "agitators" tied to "antifa" and prepared for violence, though none materialized. CRG's presence, however, and its tactics—surveillance, intimidation, and open displays of force—frightened activists and drew criticism from some police officers, who described Seabrook as "diabolically manipulative." Seabrook's past, meanwhile, is a checkered one: He worked for Crescent Security Group, an infamous contractor in Iraq known as the "Kmart of private security," and was investigated by the Army for allegedly stealing government property, though he was never charged. Read the piece in full here, including Seabrook's legal, financial, and personal issues after "Operation Peaceful Garden," and an eventual meeting with Smith's younger brother that left the latter disappointed.
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