Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act in Minneapolis
President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act on Thursday as part of his crackdown on immigrants, blaming Minnesota politicians who opposed the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the city and condemned violence against protesters.
“If Minnesota’s corrupt politicians don’t obey the law and stop professional agitators and rioters from attacking ICE Patriots who are just trying to do their job, I will start an INVOLVED MOVEMENT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. to mail.
The president made his threat a day after a federal immigration officer shot a Minneapolis man in the leg. The man attacked federal officers with a shovel and broom as they tried to complete a targeted traffic stop, the agency said.
If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, he could deploy federal troops to the state.
Protests intensified in the Minnesota city last week after an ICE agent shot Renee Good, a local woman who was part of a group monitoring ICE activities, in the head.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed after three ICE agents surrounded her SUV on a snowy street while she was participating in an “ICE watch” protest documenting federal immigration enforcement.
Witness video shows an immigration officer ordering Good to exit the vehicle and grabbing the door handle while another agent positioned himself in front of Jonathan Ross’ vehicle. As he begins to move the SUV forward, Ross raises his gun and fires at least three shots at close range.
Ross suffered internal bleeding in his torso as a result of the encounter, Homeland Security officials said to the Associated Press.
“I can tell you that our agent was beaten, he was injured, he was treated,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters on Thursday, saying the agency was “grateful that he survived.”
In the video of the incident, Ross can be seen swearing and walking away from the incident after shooting Good.
After Good was fatally shot, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told ICE to “get the hell out of Minneapolis” and called federal claims that his officers killed Good in self-defense “bullshit.” Still, he urged residents to remain peaceful, warning them that Trump might call in the military.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also spoke out against ICE and his state attorney earlier this week. Gen. Keith Ellison filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, asking the court to block Homeland Security agents from entering the state and declare it unconstitutional and illegal.
“Over the past week, we have seen federal agents arrest, threaten and use force against innocent bystanders,” Walz said in a statement Monday. expression. “They took enforcement action at schools, hospitals, and in one horrific incident, shot and killed someone… This operation was never about security, it is a targeted political operation and Minnesota will not allow it.”
On Thursday, Noem singled out Walz for criticism, telling reporters outside the White House that the Minnesota governor “still is not willing to work with our federal officers to bring peace to the streets of Minneapolis.”
Saying that the federal government has no plans to withdraw from Minnesota, Noem noted that she discussed the Insurrection Act with Trump.
“He certainly has the constitutional authority to use it,” he said. “My hope is that this leadership team in Minnesota will begin to work with us to get criminals off the streets.”
Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche also singled out Walz and Frey.
“The Minnesota riots are the direct result of a FAILED governor and a TERRIBLE mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement,” he said in X. “This is disgusting. Walz and Frey – I’m focused on stopping you from your terrorism by any means necessary. This is not a threat. It’s a promise.”
Insurrection ActA federal law created in 1807 that allows the president to deploy the military within the country to suppress certain situations, such as civil unrest, insurrection, or armed rebellion against the federal government.
If Trump had invoked the Insurrection Act, he would have given the military the authority to make arrests and searches on US soil. Under normal circumstances, Law of Posse ComitatusAn 1878 law enacted after the Civil War prohibits active-duty federal forces from providing regular civilian law enforcement unless authorized by Congress or the president invokes the Insurrection Act.
The president first threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act against protesters in the summer of 2020, but Cabinet members and military advisors blocked the move. In June 2025, he repeated his threat to protesters in Los Angeles as people took to the streets to protest ICE raids.
“The people who are causing the problems are the bad people, they’re the rioters,” Trump later told reporters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
