President Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a law that would allow him to deploy military forces in Minnesota, if state leaders don't stop protesters from attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The 1807 law allows the president to deploy troops within the United States to restore order during periods of serious unrest.
It was first invoked by Thomas Jefferson to deal with a plot to create a breakaway nation in the western part of the country. Widespread demonstrations and confrontations between federal officers and protesters have intensified in Minneapolis in recent days after an ICE officer shot and killed a protester, Renee Nicole Good last week.
Minneapolis Mayhem Intensifies
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me," Trump warned on Truth Social.
Trump's warning came after a tense confrontation on Wednesday evening in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent shot a man suspected of being an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop struggle.
Officials say two people joined him and attacked the officer with an ice shovel and a broom handle, and that the man being stopped also fought with the agent before he was shot in the leg and arrested. The suspect is an illegal migrant from Venezuela.
The shooting took place just a week after another ICE officer shot and killed a protester who tried to hit the ICE agent with her SUV. Those back-to-back violent incidents have sparked days of protests throughout the Twin Cities.
Mayor Jacob Frey said there are now more than 3,000 immigration officers — including ICE and Border Patrol agents — in Minneapolis, far outnumbering the city's roughly 600 police officers, a presence that has added to the city's tensions.
"This is not sustainable," Frey told reporters late Wednesday. "This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in, and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward, to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order."
Complete Unrest
Trump's team stepped up immigration enforcement in the state, putting more focus and resources into cracking down on people living there without legal status and related issues after a wave of rampant benefits fraud in Minnesota.
Earlier in the week, Minnesota and Illinois filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to stop the surge of ICE and other federal immigration agents in their states. The federal government says the surge in enforcement is required because state laws limit how much local police can work with immigration authorities.
The Insurrection Act hasn't been invoked in decades, with its last use dating back to 1992, when it was enforced during the Los Angeles riots that erupted after four police officers were acquitted in the violent beating of motorist Rodney King.
The president has also tried using other legal options to send National Guard troops into states like Illinois, but those efforts were abandoned after running into legal challenges.
The National Guard is still stationed in Washington, D.C., where the federal government has broader authority than it does in most other cities.
