President Trump on Thursday said he could invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota if state officials do not stop rioters from attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
The Insurrection Act allows a president to deploy federal troops and, in certain circumstances, federalize the National Guard in response to civil unrest or rebellion.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump warned that he would take that step if violence against federal officers continues.
“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 wrote.
Trump’s warning follows a Wednesday night incident in Minneapolis in which an ICE agent shot a suspected illegal immigrant during a confrontation at a traffic stop. Officials allege two people attacked the agent using a shovel and a broom handle while intervening on the suspect’s behalf.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the suspect then broke free and attacked the agent with either a broomstick or a shovel before being shot in the leg. The suspect — described as a Venezuelan man — is now in federal custody.
The shooting came about a week after another ICE officer fatally shot activist Renee Good, who authorities say drove her SUV toward the officer.
Those two incidents have helped fuel several days of protests across the Twin Cities area.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said more than 3,000 immigration officers — including ICE and Border Patrol personnel — have been deployed to the city, a figure far higher than the Minneapolis Police Department’s roughly 600 officers.
“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.”
Trump’s administration has also intensified immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota amid allegations of widespread benefits fraud in the state.
Gov. Tim Walz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s statement.
Minnesota and Illinois filed suit earlier this week seeking to end the increased federal immigration presence in their states. The Department of Homeland Security has argued the surge is necessary because state laws limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
The Insurrection Act has not been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of four police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King.
Trump has previously pursued other legal avenues to deploy the National Guard in states such as Illinois, but those efforts were dropped after setbacks in court. The National Guard remains deployed in Washington, DC, where the federal government has broader authority than it does in states.
