President Donald Trump threatened to invoke a law allowing him to send the military or federalized National Guard troops into Minnesota on Thursday, arguing that “insurrectionists” are causing chaos in the streets.
“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, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote Thursday morning.
The president’s statement about possibly invoking the rarely used Insurrection Act of 1807 “to stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.” comes after protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers intensified over the past few hours. Tensions have heightened in Minneapolis, as state lawmakers continue to criticize federal operations in the state.
The act, signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson, codifies the use of U.S. land and naval military forces in the event of an insurrection. The word “insurrection” isn’t defined in the act but is typically understood as an act of revolting against civil authority or government, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.
It’s been used previously by presidents to quell labor disputes and rebellions in the early days of America.
Protests in Minneapolis have been ongoing since an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good, a Minnesota woman accused of trying to kill federal officers. On Wednesday evening and overnight, demonstrators responded to a second shooting in the city, in which the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said a federal officer shot an illegal immigrant in the leg after being attacked by multiple suspects with a snow shovel and broomstick.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said some protesters were throwing fireworks and rocks at federal agents. He characterized it as an “unlawful assembly,” as law enforcement used tear gas and flash bangs on rioters launching fireworks and snowballs at officers. Officials said 600 Minneapolis Police Department officers are working to “keep our streets safe.
Both sides continue to blame the other for escalating tensions.
The Trump administration has vigorously defended all ICE tactics as justified amid sweeping questions about how federal agents handled the incident leading up to Good’s death. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested late Wednesday evening that an “insurrection” is occurring in the state, and accused Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “encouraging violence.” ICE agents are merely trying to protect citizens from “criminal aliens,” he said.
Trump also made a highly charged statement that day. He suggested Democrats in the state are using “anarchists and professional agitators” to prevent ICE agents from trying to detain thousands of rapists and other criminals.
“FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!” the president said.
Walz has urged residents to protest. But, like Frey, while he has urged them to remain “peaceful,” the governor’s rhetoric has also been heated, accusing ICE on Wednesday evening of conducting “a campaign of organized brutality” and “kidnapping innocent people with no warning.” Walz is urging protesters to make their way to ICE operation scenes and record their actions to create a “database of the atrocities against Minnesotans.”
“They’re breaking windows, dragging pregnant women down the street, just plain grabbing Minnesotans and shoving them into unmarked vans,” he alleged.
Frey has repeatedly called on ICE to leave the city immediately, telling them to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” On Wednesday, he continued to accuse them of “intolerable” conduct, while telling protesters to refrain from “chaos.”
The situation in Minnesota comes after Minneapolis survived extensive violence and riotous acts sparked by the death of George Floyd in the city over five years ago. The widespread Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 resulted in at least 1,000 businesses being damaged, including dozens of places marked “destroyed.” Good’s family has retained the services of the law firm that represented Floyd’s family.
Officials are warning “the temperature needs to be lowered,” as the state could be heading in that direction once again.
“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said this week as she appeared in court for a lawsuit in which Minnesota and Minneapolis are seeking to block ICE operations in the state.
“The situation we are seeing in our city is not sustainable,” Frey said.
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The Trump administration appears unlikely to reduce ICE’s presence in the city at this point. The president, during an interview on Wednesday, continued to stand by the ICE officer who shot Good dead, while sending a message “of love” to her father-in-law.
“I want to say to the father that I love all of our people,” Trump told CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil. “I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person, but her actions were pretty tough.”
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