WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to rising tensions between protesters and federal personnel in Minneapolis.
“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 in a post on Truth Social.
His warning came just hours after a federal officer shot a man in the leg after an attempted traffic stop in Minneapolis on Wednesday night. Protests against federal immigration operations exploded after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross earlier this month.
Federal law enforcement officers confront residents in Minneapolis early Thursday.Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that she had discussed the possibility of using the Insurrection Act with the president. “He certainly has the constitutional authority to utilise that,” Noem told reporters outside the White House.
When asked about Trump’s comments, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that “Minnesota is out of control.” He added, “You have local and state leaders who seem to be encouraging violence and, and all of this madness, and the President’s frustrated about it and so are we.”
Trump floated using the Insurrection Act several times last year, citing the need for “safe cities” across the country. The president also considered invoking it during his first term amid protests in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd in police custody but ultimately decided against it, a senior administration official told NBC News in October.
Deploying the military for domestic law enforcement purposes usually requires congressional authorization, but invoking the 19th-century law would permit Trump to do so unilaterally. It also allows for the federalization of National Guard troops under certain circumstances. The law is rarely used. President George H.W. Bush was the last to invoke it, during the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday, “Minnesota needs ICE to leave, not an escalation that brings additional federal troops beyond the 3,000 already here. The mayor’s priority is keeping local law enforcement focused on public safety, not diverted by federal overreach.”
Demonstrators protest outside of the Whipple federal building Wednesday.Scott Olson / Getty Images
On Wednesday evening, Walz, a Democrat, said that the presence of ICE officers was no longer “a matter of immigration enforcement.”
“Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government,” he said. “Let me say once again to Donald Trump and Kristi Noem — end this occupation. You’ve done enough.”
The Trump administration escalated immigration enforcement in Minneapolis last month after conservative influencers brought new attention to allegations of day care fraud involving Somali immigrants in the region. However, the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families said investigators determined that child care facilities involved in the recent fraud allegations were operating normally.
Trump and his allies have seized on the allegations, publicly attacking both Minnesota Democrats and Somali immigrants. Last month, he accused Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., the first Somali American to serve in Congress, of being “one of the many scammers.” Omar has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it’s ending temporary protected status for Somalis, saying that those with TPS must leave the U.S. by March 17.
The president has also repeatedly lashed out at Walz, who was the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president.
“Moronic Tim Walz has allowed Minnesota to become overrun by Somali fraudsters who steal from American Taxpayers, and take advantage of our generosity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. “Tim is completely incompetent, which is why he lost big time last year, and bowing out of Re-Election is the only good decision he has ever made.”
Walz announced earlier this month that he was ending his re-election bid for a third term, citing the focus on the fraud allegations, in order to fully focus on the work of being governor.
“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” he said.
Dareh Gregorian, Tim Stelloh and Sarah Dean contributed.
