Trump threatens to send federal troops to quash Minneapolis protests against ICE
President Donald Trump said he will invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota if state officials don’t stop “insurrectionists” from attacking ICE agents. Trump made the threat in a Truth Social post on Thursday, after ICE agents shot and injured a man.
“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 on Truth Social.
ICE officer-involved shootings
The threat from Trump comes after ICE officers shot and killed a protester, Renee Good, last week and wounded another person on Wednesday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, a federal officer shot a man in the leg during an arrest attempt on Wednesday night.
DHS said that when an officer caught up with the suspect, the suspect resisted arrest. During the struggle, according to DHS, two people emerged from a nearby apartment and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle. The agency claimed the officer feared for his safety and “fired a defensive shot to defend his life.”
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The Insurrection Act has been formally invoked 30 times throughout U.S. history by 17 different presidents.
“The initial suspect was hit in the leg,” the agency said.
After Good’s killing last week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for federal immigration officials to leave the city, claiming they’re making tensions on the ground worse. Officials repeated the demand after Wednesday’s shooting.
“The City of Minneapolis again demands that ICE leave the city and state immediately,” a post on the city’s official X account read. “We stand by our immigrant and refugee communities — know that you have our full support.”
What is the Insurrection Act?
The Insurrection Act is a federal law from 1807 that allows the president to deploy the U.S. military and federalize National Guard units within the U.S. It authorizes law enforcement and the military to police domestically.
The act is used “to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy think tank associated with New York University.
The act provides an exemption to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits federal military forces from participating in civilian law enforcement activities.
Some may confuse the Insurrection Act with martial law. However, the difference lies in local law enforcement. Under the Insurrection Act, federal law enforcement permits the military to assist civilian authorities.
Martial law involves replacing civilian law enforcement with federal.
When has the Insurrection Act been used?
The last time a president invoked the Insurrection Act was in 1992, when the governor of California asked President George H.W. Bush to deploy the military to help quell rioting in Los Angeles after the acquittal of police officers of beat motorist Rodney King.
The violence in L.A. killed 63 people and resulted in $63 billion in property damage.
Previously, the act was primarily used during the Civil Rights era when some governors refused to comply with Supreme Court rulings on desegregation. Specifically, former presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy invoked the act to deploy troops in states that refused to desegregate their schools.
Trump previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act during protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020, and in 2025 during LA protests against ICE.
The Brennan Center compiled a full list of when the act was used here.
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