As tensions rise in Minneapolis, Trump warns of Insurrection Act deployment
President Donald Trump said Thursday he is considering invoking the Insurrection Act, a move that could deploy U.S. troops to Minneapolis in response to ongoing protests tied to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal officers.
The President’s statement, posted on Truth Social, followed a second shooting incident involving federal officers in Minneapolis within the past week. The Insurrection Act of 1807, gives a president authority to deploy the U.S. military and federalize National Guard members for civil disorder, insurrections, and other specific circumstances.
“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,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
On Wednesday evening, a federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle while trying to make an arrest, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement posted on X, the Department of Homeland Security said that law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted traffic stop of a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The subject fled the scene in their vehicle and crashed into a parked car. The person then fled on foot from federal officers.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
Following the incident, protesters and federal officers gathered near the scene. Associated Press photo journalists documented officers wearing helmets and gas masks as tear gas was deployed and smoke filled the streets. The Star Tribune reported that after law enforcement left the scene at approximately 10:30 p.m., hundreds of people remained in the area. Protesters damaged several vehicles that were thought to belong to federal agents.
Wednesday night, state officials addressed the ongoing federal presence in Minneapolis and asked protestors to stop trying to instill chaos.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara spoke in a press conference following the shooting incident.
“For anyone taking the bait tonight. Stop,” said Mayor Jacob Frey. “That is not helpful. Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos.”
Gov. Tim Walz released a video Wednesday evening addressing the ongoing tensions in Minneapolis tied to the presence of federal officers.
“What’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief,” Walz said. “News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities.”
Walz said, “Let’s be very, very clear: This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Tensions have been high between protestors and law enforcement in Minneapolis for a week, following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent during an enforcement operation on Jan. 7.
Minnesota Senator Grant Hauschild posted a statement on Facebook addressing the federal presence and enforcement operations, prior to the Wednesday evening incident.
“What is happening right now in Minnesota is deeply troubling. Minnesotans are seeing a level of enforcement that feels sudden, aggressive, and unsettling, and it is leaving families and entire communities scared and on edge. That is not something we should ever brush aside,” said Sen. Hauschild.
Kalli Hawkins January 15, 2026
