President Donald Trump warned that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if people in Minnesota don’t obey the law and continue attacking federal agents there.
“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.
The president’s warning comes after a second ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis in recent days.
An ICE agent shot an alleged illegal immigrant in the leg on Wednesday during an arrest attempt. The Department of Homeland Security claims the agent fired at the suspect because he was “fearing for his life and safety” after the individual resisted arrest and “violently assaulted the officer.”
Insurrection Act
The U.S. Insurrection Act is a federal law enacted in 1807 that authorises the President to deploy active-duty military forces and federalise the National Guard within the United States to suppress insurrection, rebellion, or serious civil disorder when state authorities are unable or unwilling to maintain order.
Under the Act, the President may act at the request of a state government or unilaterally if federal laws cannot be enforced or if citizens’ constitutional rights are being obstructed and state authorities fail to intervene.
The Act remains controversial due to the breadth of presidential discretion it grants and concerns over the militarisation of domestic policing. Nonetheless, supporters view it as a necessary last-resort legal mechanism to preserve constitutional order during extreme national crises.
If invoked, it would grant Trump the authority to federalize the National Guard and deploy active duty forces to restore order. It would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
