Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act to quell anti-ICE protests in Minnesota
US President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to quell unrest over federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.
He threatened to send in troops after a night of protests and vandalism in the Minnesota city after an officer shot a man in the leg.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an officer opened fire after being attacked by three Venezuelan nationals with a shovel and broom handle.
Tensions have been high in Minneapolis since an immigration agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good last week, sparking nationwide protests.
The Insurrection Act is a 19th century law that allows active duty military personnel to be deployed for law enforcement duties in the United States.
Trump has already said he could invoke the 1807 Act elsewhere and never did so.
The president posted on Truth Social that he would use the law if Minnesota authorities failed to arrest “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”
DHS said Wednesday’s shooting occurred after a chase involving a Venezuelan national, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who had a prior conviction for driving without a license.
The agency’s statement said that after the pursuit, Sosa-Celis got out of his vehicle and fought with the federal agent.
Two other illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, came out of a nearby apartment, according to the agency.
All three attacked the law enforcement officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, DHS said, before the officer opened fire, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg.
The officer was taken to hospital. Sosa-Celis was also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The three Venezuelans were arrested.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was attempted murder against federal law enforcement,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
She said the officer was “ambushed and attacked” by the men and fired a defensive shot.
On Wednesday evening, clashes broke out between demonstrators and law enforcement in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Minneapolis, near the scene of the shooting.
City Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his officers were hit by fireworks, ice and snowballs.
Several federally owned vehicles were damaged during the unrest and property was stolen from inside the vehicles, according to the FBI.
The FBI announced 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.”
About 3,000 federal agents have been deployed to Minnesota in recent weeks.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who asked ICE to leave the city, said Wednesday on X: “Regardless of what led to this incident, the situation we are seeing in our city is not sustainable.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, made a direct appeal to the president on Thursday, posting on X: “Let’s lower the temperature.”
Walz, who once called ICE a “modern-day Gestapo,” told Minnesotans, “We cannot fan the flames of chaos.”
The Democratic governor, who ran for U.S. vice president alongside Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, said earlier this month he would end his re-election bid.
The move follows a fraud scandal involving state social programs.
Trump said Operation Metro Surge would continue in Minnesota after a federal judge on Wednesday denied Minnesota prosecutors a temporary restraining order against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Tensions over immigration enforcement have been high in the city since the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renée Nicole Good, 37, by an ICE agent.
The Trump administration says the ICE agent acted in self-defense, while local authorities say the woman posed no danger.
Videos of the incident show ICE agents approaching a car that was in the middle of the street.
As Good attempted to leave, 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 held for Good’s widow and family raised more than $1.4 million. Another online fundraiser for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent at the center of the deadly confrontation, raised $740,000.
