U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a stark warning that he could invoke the Insurrection Act — a nearly two-century-old law that would allow him to deploy U.S. military forces domestically — in Minnesota as tensions continue to surge in Minneapolis. The president’s message came amid ongoing protests and daily clashes over an escalating federal immigration enforcement operation in the state’s largest city.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump blasted state and local leaders, saying that if they fail to halt what he characterized as attacks on federal immigration officers, he will “institute the Insurrection Act” to restore order and enforce federal law.
The threat comes on the heels of renewed unrest following a second shooting involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer late Wednesday in the north Minneapolis neighborhood of Hawthorne. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an ICE agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg after an attempted traffic stop escalated into a physical confrontation. Homeland Security said the man fled, resisted arrest and was allegedly joined by two others who attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, prompting the agent to fire in what DHS described as self-defense.
Both the Venezuelan man and the ICE officer were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The two individuals who allegedly attacked the officer were taken into custody.
The latest incident has deepened longstanding community anger. It occurred just one week after another federal officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, during a separate enforcement action in south Minneapolis. That killing sparked widespread protests and criticism from local officials who have condemned the federal operation as overly aggressive and harmful to residents.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have both openly challenged the federal strategy. Frey described the situation as “unsustainable” and disruptive to everyday life in the city, while Walz joined other state officials in criticizing the scale and tactics of the ICE deployment. Local leaders have also demanded that federal agents leave the state and have appealed for calm among demonstrators.
Under the Insurrection Act, first passed in 1792, a president can deploy active-duty military forces on U.S. soil in situations where authorities determine that local or state governments cannot suppress violent resistance to law enforcement. It has been invoked multiple times in U.S. history, typically during large-scale civil unrest.
As of now, the situation remains volatile, with marches, clashes between protesters and federal forces, and heated debate between state and federal leaders over the legality and necessity of the federal presence — and what, if any, additional measures the Trump administration might take next.