Around 1,500 soldiers on standby for deployment to Minneapolis, reports say

Speaking to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, a US defense official said that soldiers were on standby for possible deployment to Minneapolis.

As anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations continued in the city on Saturday, the 1,500 troops currently based in Alaska are an option for the US president if he decides to use active-duty military personnel, the official said.

The official said that no decision has been made yet on whether soldiers will be sent from Alaska.

Minnesota officials urge protesters to remain orderly and peaceful during demonstrations after an ICE agent We shot and killed US citizen Renee Good earlier this month..

The soldiers were part of the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Wainwright, the official added.

This comes after a US federal judge issued an order limiting the crowd control tactics ICE agents can use against “peaceful and unobstructed” protesters in Minneapolis.

Judge Katherine Menendez had previously ruled that federal agents cannot arrest or pepper-spray peaceful demonstrations, including those watching or observing ICE agents.

The state’s National Guard was mobilized and put on alert by Gov. Tim Walz, and other law enforcement officers were also sent to Minneapolis ahead of anti-ICE demonstrations.

Recent protests in the city were sparked by widespread ICE action in the city and followed Good’s death on January 7.

City leaders said Good was there as a legal observer of ICE activities.

But the Trump administration called him a “domestic terrorist.”

Good’s death sparked protests across the country, with many people holding signs reading “Justice for Renee.”