Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act to quell anti-ICE protests in Minnesota
US President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used Riot Act to quell unrest over federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.
He threatened to send in troops after a night of protests and vandalism after an agent shot a man in the leg in the Minnesota city.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an officer opened fire after being attacked by three Venezuelan citizens with a shovel and a broom handle.
Tensions have been rising in Minneapolis since an immigration officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good last week, sparking nationwide protests.
The Sedition Act is a 19th-century law that allows active duty military personnel to be assigned to law enforcement duties in the United States.
Trump has previously said he could implement the 1807 law without ever applying it elsewhere.
The president stated on Truth Social that he would use the law if Minnesota officials did not stop “professional agitators and rioters.”
Wednesday’s shooting occurred after a car chase involving Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national who had previously been convicted of driving without a license, DHS said.
In the statement made by the agency, it was stated that after the pursuit, Sosa-Celis got out of his vehicle and fought with the federal agent.
Two more illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, emerged from a nearby apartment, according to the agency.
All three attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, and the agent shot Sosa-Celis in the leg before opening fire, DHS said.
The agent was taken to the hospital. Sosa-Celis, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was also taken to the hospital. Three Venezuelans were also arrested.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement officers,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
He said the officer was “ambushed and attacked” by the men and fired in defense.
On Wednesday night, clashes broke out between protesters and law enforcement in the Hawthorne section of Minneapolis near the scene of the shooting.
City police Chief Brian O’Hara said his officers were subjected to fireworks, ice and snowball attacks.
According to the FBI, many federal government vehicles were damaged and items inside were stolen in the chaos.
The FBI said Thursday it would offer a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to “the recovery of stolen government property and/or the arrest of individuals responsible for the destruction and theft of government property.”
Nearly 3,000 federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota in recent weeks.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has demanded that ICE leave the city, said on X on Wednesday: “Regardless of what caused this incident, the situation we are seeing in our city is not sustainable.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, made a direct appeal to the president Thursday, posting on X: “Let’s turn the temperature down.”
Walz, who previously called ICE a “modern-day Gestapo,” told Minnesotans: “We cannot fan the flames of chaos.”
The Democratic governor, who is running for US vice president alongside Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections, said earlier this month that he would end his re-election bid.
The move follows a fraud scandal involving the state’s welfare programs.
Trump said Operation Metro Surge will continue in Minnesota after a federal judge on Wednesday rejected Minnesota prosecutors’ temporary restraining order against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Tensions over immigration enforcement have been rising in the city since the Jan. 7 shooting death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
The Trump administration says the ICE agent acted in self-defense, while local officials maintain the woman posed no danger.
Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car in the middle of the street.
While Good was trying to drive, one of them in the front of the vehicle pointed his gun at the driver and fired three shots. The FBI is investigating the incident.
An online fundraiser for Good’s widow and family raised more than $1.4 million. Another online fundraiser raised $740,000 for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent at the center of the deadly shooting.
