President Donald Trump early Jan. 15 threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy federal troops in Minnesota if state officials fail to contain ongoing protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “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.”
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law & stop the professional agitators & 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…” - President Trump pic.twitter.com/d7XJMA7qUU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2026
The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows a president to deploy active-duty military troops domestically to suppress civil unrest or enforce federal law. According to FOX News, the act was last invoked in the 1992 Los Angeles riots under former President George H. W. Bush.
Trump’s remarks come as tensions boil over in Minneapolis, where there are widespread protests against the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
On the evening of Jan. 14, a federal agent shot and injured a man during an ICE operation in Minneapolis. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said federal officers were conducting a traffic stop on a Venezuelan immigrant “who was released into the country by Joe Biden in 2022,” according to The Hill.
McLaughlin said the suspect attempted to flee in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car, and then continued to flee on foot. When an officer attempted to apprehend him, the suspect “began to resist and violently assault the officer,” she said, according to The Hill.
Two additional individuals exited a nearby apartment during the encounter and attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle, according to McLaughlin’s statement. As the officer was being “ambushed and attacked by three individuals," she said, he fired a “defensive shot to defend his life,” wounding the original suspect in the leg.
Both the migrant and the officer were hospitalized, while the two other individuals were taken into custody, McLaughlin said, according to The Hill.
The incident took place in an already volatile situation in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, which was followed by days of protests and sharp political backlash.
At least 200 protesters gathered late Jan. 14 near the scene of the most recent shooting, according to a New York Times estimate. Video cited by The Washington Post shows demonstrators clashing with federal agents amid tear gas, flashbangs, and fireworks. Some protestors reportedly broke into ICE vehicles and took documents.
During a late-night news conference, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara described the gathering as an “unlawful assembly,” saying the crowd had thrown fireworks at officers, and urged protesters to disperse.
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued a direct appeal to Trump following his threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.
“Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Walz wrote on X. “And an appeal to Minnesotans: I know this is scary. We can — we must — speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants.”
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) January 15, 2026
In response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson accused Walz, Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, and other leaders in the state of exacerbating tensions.
“Tim Walz, Jacob Frey, and Democrat leaders in Minnesota have done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them – all in defense of criminal illegal aliens,” Jackson said, according to a statement shared by FOX.
Trump has previously raised the prospect of invoking the Insurrection Act. The Hill reported that in October 2025, Trump told reporters he was “allowed” to use the act if courts blocked his efforts to deploy the National Guard to U.S. cities.