Minneapolis ICE shootings: Trump threatens to institute Insurrection Act

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - President Donald Trump is threatening the Insurrection Act in Minnesota after the latest ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis. This would allow him to deploy troops to Minnesota.

Trump's Truth Social post threatening the Insurrection Act comes hours after a second ICE-involved shooting within a week sent a man and a federal agent to the hospital. The shooting prompted protests in the area in which protesters clashed with federal agents, throwing fireworks and rocks at officers. Federal agents used chemical irritants on protesters. 

A federal officer on Jan. 14 shot a man in the leg in north Minneapolis after DHS claims the officer was attacked while attempting to arrest the man from Venezuela. 

A week ago, on Jan. 7, ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good in south Minneapolis.

Insurrection Act threat from President Trump

What they're saying:

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump posted: 

"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, 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. Thank you for you (sic) attention to this matter! President DJT."

Walz's response to Trump

The other side:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in response to Trump's statement about instituting the Insurrection Act, said: 

"I am making a direct appeal to the president: Let's turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are. 

"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."

What is the Insurrection Act? 

Dig deeper:

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the U.S. president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.

Congress passed the act in 1792, just four years after the Constitution was ratified.

Presidents have invoked the law 40 times, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis. 

Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times — in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington — in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

George H.W. Bush was the last president to use the Insurrection Act, a response to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King in an incident that was videotaped.

ICE shoots, injures man

The backstory:

The Jan. 14 shooting occurred in the Hawthorne Neighborhood of Minneapolis, near Lyndale and 24th Avenue North. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents were conducting a traffic stop around 7 p.m. targeting a Venezuelan man they claim is living in the U.S. illegally. 

DHS reports the man drove off and crashed into a parked car before running off on foot. A federal officer tried to arrest him, but DHS claims the man resisted and reportedly attacked the officer. 

Federal officials say two people then exited a nearby home and attacked the agent with a shovel and broom handle, resulting in the ICE agent opening fire, hitting the man in the leg. The suspect then entered the house and refused to come out before agents entered the home and took him into custody. 

The man was taken to the hospital via ambulance, and is expected to survive. The two other alleged attackers were taken into custody. The ICE agent was also taken to the hospital for treatment. 

Reactions to Trump's threats to invoke Insurrection Act

Dig deeper:

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota) released the following statement after President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act: 

"I totally reject President Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. This would allow the President to deploy the U.S. military into our state. The President’s dangerous threat to invoke the Insurrection Act is an escalation at a time when Minnesotans are asking President Trump to stop the chaos caused by federal agents.

"Minnesotans are protesting peacefully, speaking out, and documenting the violence being carried out by masked, unprofessional, poorly trained ICE and DHS agents against residents of our state.

"I call upon all Republican elected officials in the state of Minnesota and across the country to condemn President Trump’s reckless threats against our citizens.

"Democracy can be fragile at times. That’s why we all have a duty as Minnesotans and as Americans to continue to speak out to defend the civil rights of all, document ICE and DHS agents’ brutality against our neighbors, protect the rule of law, and preserve our democracy today and for future generations." 

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