MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump is threatening to use the Insurrection Act in Minnesota to tamp down unrest and the pushback against ICE agents working in the state.

Trump gave the warning early Thursday, Jan. 15, in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, after a federal agent shot a man in the leg Wednesday night in north Minneapolis and hundreds of protesters descended on the scene. The Department of Homeland Security said the officer fired defensive shots after being attacked with a snow shovel and broom.

Videos showed officers wearing masks and helmets firing tear gas and flash grenades in the direction of protesters as a standoff lasted for several hours. Some protesters vandalized vehicles at the end of the night.

Roughly 3,000 federal agents have been sent to Minneapolis in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Tensions between federal agents and Minneapolis residents have been rising since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7 at 34th Street and Portland Avenue S.

“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 said.

What is the Insurrection Act of 1807?

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to send military forces, including active-duty troops and federalized National Guard units, to cities to suppress civil disorder and to enforce federal laws. The act has been invoked in response to 30 crises, most recently in 1992 to respond to the Los Angeles riots following the police beating of Rodney King, according to according to New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice.

In 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower invoked the Insurrection Act to send federal troops to enforce the integration of schools in Little Rock, Ark. Trump threatened similar action amid the riots after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the president alone can determine whether the act’s conditions have been met.

The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits the president from deploying the military inside the United States. Invoking the Insurrection Act allows the president to temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act and deploy active-duty military within the United States to enforce the law or suppress insurrections or rebellions in certain circumstances, including:

—When federal assistance is requested by a state’s governor or Legislature.

—When “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States” make it “impracticable” to enforce federal law.

—To protect the constitutional rights of a state’s residents when state or local authorities are unable or unwilling to protect them.

What are the limits of the Insurrection Act?

When the Insurrection Act is invoked, federal troops may be used to enforce federal laws or certain state laws, mostly related to civil rights. The military may not be used to replace local law enforcement to fight street crime or to deprive individuals of their constitutional rights. It is also illegal to deploy federal troops to polling places.

What is an “insurrection”?

The law does not include definitions for “insurrection” or “rebellion,” giving the president broad authority to decide what qualifies. The president’s decision is generally not reviewable by courts except in limited circumstances.

How are Minneapolis leaders reacting?

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said his priority is keeping local law enforcement focused on public safety.

“Minnesota needs ICE to leave, not an escalation that brings additional federal troops beyond the 3,000 already here,” he said.

Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley said she believes Trump has been itching to go to war with cities that do not align with his administration’s political goals.

“Minneapolis is a testing ground in which he’s trying to normalize, legalize these very terroristic actions … that we often see happen abroad, actions that we wage against communities abroad,” Wonsley said during an appearance on CNN. “He’s doing that right here in his own homeland, his own country, that he took an oath to serve and protect. So, I am not surprised.”

What are Democrats in Congress saying about the threat?

On Capitol Hill, Minnesota Democrats sharply condemned Trump’s threat and were trying to figure out how to push back.

Rep. Angie Craig, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat, said Minnesotans should take Trump’s threat “very seriously” and warned that Democrats would fight “tooth and nail” if the president follows through.

“We’re in extraordinary times, and any American who is watching what is happening in Minnesota, the literal takeover of a state by rogue federal agents, should pay very close attention to what the playbook is in Minnesota, because it is coming everywhere,” Craig told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said Trump’s latest threat was predictable.

“This is just another level of authoritarianism for a wannabe dictator, and we’re not going to stand for it,” said Omar, who’s set to host a field hearing at the Minnesota State Capitol on Friday morning to talk about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement action.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the only way order can be restored is for ICE to leave Minnesota.

“This Administration is escalating rather than de-escalating and it needs to stop,” Klobuchar said in a statement.

Rep. Kelly Morrison criticized Trump for fanning the flames of an already-tense situation.

“Minnesotans, our state and local officials, and especially our local law enforcement have all made clear that they want the chaos to end and for the ICE agents wreaking havoc on our state to leave,” Morrison said in a statement.

What are Republicans saying?

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said “Minnesota’s out of control,” following Trump’s threat.

“I don’t know about the application of the Insurrection Act because I haven’t paid close enough attention, but I can see the chaos on the news like every other American can,” Johnson said in response to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s question about Trump’s statement.

House Republican Speaker Lisa Demuth and Leader Harry Niska called the situation a “Democrat-created crisis” in a statement and said Minnesota should be cooperating with federal law enforcement.

“Defying federal law and demonizing federal law enforcement will not work, and it will only hurt all Minnesotans.”

Minnesota four Republicans in Congress have so far not commented on Trump’s threat.

Are state and federal officials communicating directly?

Gov. Tim Walz posted a direct appeal to Trump on social media. “Let’s turn the temperature down,” Walz wrote. “Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are.”

Walz’s office said he was trying to contact Trump and convening other governors, members of Congress and business and civil leaders to urge the president to change course.

In a White House briefing, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the president has not spoken directly with Walz about what’s happening in Minnesota.

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