President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would give him authority to deploy U.S. armed forces domestically, as tensions rise in Minnesota following a second shooting involving a federal agent in Minneapolis.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The threat comes after a night of clashes between protesters and federal agents in Minneapolis. The demonstrations intensified after a federal officer shot a Venezuelan man accused of fleeing a traffic stop and attacking an agent, federal officials said.
Since an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, last week, demonstrations against the Trump administration and ongoing immigration enforcement operations have erupted nationwide.
State and local officials in Minnesota, who filed a lawsuit to halt the federal intervention, described ICE’s actions as “intolerable” and called on protesters to remain peaceful. Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday also encouraged civilians to record ICE agents’ conduct for “future prosecutions.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which has sent about 3,000 federal agents into the Minneapolis area, dwarfing the local police presence, defended agents’ actions and denounced local officials for not assisting immigration officers.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday lashed out at Democratic officials who have criticized federal law enforcement in Minnesota and touched on Trump’s recent threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.
“The Insurrection Act is a tool at the president’s disposal,” Leavitt said, speaking about the law that gives the president authority to deploy U.S. troops onto American soil. “As you know, it’s been used, sparingly, but it has been used by previous presidents in American history.”
She went on to accuse Democratic officials of “using their platforms to encourage violence” against officers and agents in the area, though many leaders on the left have called for calm.
CNN said one of its crews has been hit with pepper spray balls while covering an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis.
The news agency said protesters were confronting ICE agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Thursday when someone threw what looked to be a water bottle at officials.
Soon after that, CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones reported that protesters and the CNN crew “got hit with some projectiles with pepper spray.”
The Whipple building has become a hot spot for protesters, with multiple news outlets reporting that federal authorities used tear gas in an attempt to break up the demonstrations.
Feds pulled over vans with staff, students in St. Paul: Reports
Federal agents in St. Paul, Minnesota, this week have pulled over two vans carrying students and staff to school in separate incidents, district officials told multiple news media outlets.
In both instances on Jan. 12 and 14, “staff followed the district’s protocols, and both vans were able to continue to school without further disruption,” according to St. Paul Public Schools, reported CNN and FOX9.
The district said both vans were under contract and had the van company’s name on them.
“We applaud the staff members onboard for keeping everyone calm and safe,” the district said.
Meanwhile the school district is offering students the option for temporary virtual learning “for students who do not feel comfortable coming to schools at this time.”
The option will be available starting on Thursday, Jan. 22, and parents can sign on starting Thursday, Jan. 15.
School has been canceled from Jan. 20-21 to allow staff time to prepare. There is no school on Monday in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging that federal agents have violated the constitutional rights of Minnesota residents.
The civil lawsuit says ICE and Border Patrol personnel have illegally stopped and detained people without probable cause or warrants.
“ICE and CBP’s practices are both illegal and morally reprehensible,” said Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, staff attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota, in a statement. “Federal agents’ conduct – sweeping up Minnesotans through racial profiling and unlawful arrests – is a grave violation of Minnesotans’ most fundamental rights, and it has spread fear among immigrant communities and neighborhoods. No one, including federal agents, is above the law.”
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday identified three men who allegedly attacked an immigration agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, including a man who was shot by the federal officer.
DHS says Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant, fled from federal agents in a vehicle and then on foot before he assaulted an agent.
During the scuffle, two men from a nearby apartment, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, undocumented immigrants from Venezuela, “attacked” the agent with a “snow shovel and broom handle,” federal officials said.
The agent fired “defensive shots,” hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg, according to Homeland Security. The three men barricaded themselves in an apartment before being taken into custody. The agent and Sosa-Celis remain in the hospital, federal officials said Thursday.
Minnesota state prosecutors sued the Department of Homeland Security this week in an attempt to stop the ongoing immigration enforcement, describing it as a “federal invasion.” On Wednesday, a federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the operations.
In the hearing, U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez ordered the Trump administration to respond by Monday to Minnesota’s complaints, saying she would rule after that, calling the issues raised by Minnesota’s lawsuit “enormously important.”
“They deal with the very fundamental relationships between the government and the state and municipalities,” she said.
After Trump floated the use of the Insurrection Act, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey renewed calls on Thursday for federal authorities to leave the city.
“Minnesota needs ICE to leave, not an escalation that brings additional federal troops beyond the 3,000 already here,” Frey said in a statement on X. “My priority is keeping local law enforcement focused on public safety, not diverted by federal overreach.”
Walz, in a statement on Thursday, asked the president to “stop this campaign of retribution” and urged residents to remain calm.
“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.”
He added, in a message 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.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday that she has discussed the use of the Insurrection Act with President Trump.
“He certainly has the constitutional authority to utilize that,” Noem told reporters. “My hope is that this leadership team in Minnesota will start to work with us to get criminals off the streets.”
Noem also defended the actions of agents on the ground in Minnesota: “Every single action that our ICE officers take is according to the law and following protocols that we have used for years,” she said.
The tactics of federal immigration agents have come under intense scrutiny after the shooting of Good and growing skirmishes between federal officers and protesters. Videos have shown agents firing pepper spray from vehicles, pulling people out of cars and asking U.S. citizens for their IDs.
She added that there’s “No plans to pull out of Minnesota.”From CNN’s Amanda MusaA CNN crew was hit with pepper balls while at an anti-ICE protest in the Minneapolis area today.Demonstrators were confronting a large group of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building when an object was thrown at officials.“Just moments ago, we saw agents coming out of this building in formation and tried to clear protesters off of the street,” CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones told Jake Tapper this evening.“Soon after, some kind of projectile — looked to me like a water bottle — was thrown at these agents,” Jones said. “And then all of us, including our crew here, our CNN crew, got hit with some projectiles with pepper spray.”Arrests were recently made outside the federal building where anti-ICE protests have been happening daily, US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News this afternoon.
The Insurrection Act is a 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the U.S. military to suppress events like civil disorder.
“The Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy the military inside the United States and use it against Americans, making it one of the executive branch’s most potent emergency powers,” according to a 2022 report by the Brennan Center for Justice.
It’s also one of the oldest emergency powers available to the president, the center says, dating to 1792. It gives Congress authority under the Constitution to “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions,” and is the primary exception to the Posse Comitatus Act, the center’s experts say, under which federal military forces are generally barred from participating in civilian law enforcement activities.
– Kathryn Palmer and Kate Perez
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan is leaving the agency, she said in a social media post on Thursday.
“Thank you, President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for your leadership and steadfast commitment to Defend the Homeland,” she said in a post on X. “I am proud of the work we have done to protect American families and I am grateful for the brave men and women serving at ICE.”
Sheahan did not say why she was leaving her high-ranking post at ICE. Multiple news outlets, including Fox News and CBS News, reported Sheahan planned to run for U.S. Congress, citing unnamed officials.
The Minnesota Department of Criminal Apprehension said it is launching a use-of-force investigation into the Wednesday night shooting of a Venezuelan man by a federal agent in Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security says the man fled officers in a vehicle but crashed into a parked car and then took off on foot. An officer attempted to take him into custody and a struggle ensued, the agency said. Two people came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the agent with a snow shovel and broom handle, federal authorities say.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life. The initial subject was hit in the leg,” Homeland Security said. “All three subjects ran back into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside.”
The Minnesota Department of Criminal Apprehension had intended to probe the fatal shooting of Renee Good, but said the FBI blocked state authorities from investigating the incident.
Immigration agents have fired upon at least 10 people since August, USA TODAY has found. In each case, agents shot at drivers or into moving cars – a practice that has largely been discouraged by law enforcement because of risks to public safety.
Footage of the incidents show agents swarming vehicles, smashing windows and trying to pry open car doors within seconds of approaching drivers. On multiple occasions, body camera video and cellphone footage has contradicted federal officials’ initial claims about the shootings.
Policing experts and former law enforcement officials said many of the tactics being used by federal agents – from reaching into vehicles to stepping into the path of cars – are in stark contrast to well-known policing standards.
“The growing number of incidents where we see agents resorting to deadly force without any reasonable basis is a recipe for disaster,” said David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on police procedure. “These actions,” he added, “don’t reflect the current thinking of law enforcement generally or best practices.”
Renee Good’s family on Wednesday revealed new details about what she was doing in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting on Jan. 7 that sparked protests nationwide.
In statements where they called Good “the beautiful light of our family,” the woman’s four siblings, parents and their attorneys described the shooting as a result of a chance encounter after dropping off her 6-year-old child at school. According to the family and attorneys, Good and her wife, Becca Good, were driving in their car with their dog after dropping off their child when they came across federal agents in their neighborhood engaged in immigration action. The couple stopped “to observe, with the intention of supporting and helping their neighbors,” family attorneys said.Â
“We want to thank everyone who has reached out in support of Renee and our family. The kind of unending care we’ve been given during this time is exactly the kind that she gave to everyone,” the family said in a letter shared with USA TODAY. “Nae was the beautiful light of our family and brought joy to anyone she met. She was relentlessly hopeful and optimistic which was contagious. We all already miss her more than words could ever express.”
– Michael Loria
Almost six years after former police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, the city sits on a tinder box of sorrow and outrage. And activism.
“We are completely retraumatized – people are deeply retraumatized,” former Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins said. “It’s like literally the same people, just six blocks from where George Floyd was murdered. It’s the same community, the same people, and the whole city.”
Renee Good, a White mother, was fatally shot in her car on Jan. 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. It happened not far from where Floyd, a Black man, was killed.Â
Things have changed since the days after George Floyd’s murder. There haven’t been fiery and destructive protests. But the heart of the city is once again broken. Â
“It’s just been relentless and people are exhausted,” Jenkins said. Read more.
– Suzette Hackney
Federal agents have detained a handful of Native Americans amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
The detention of at least five men in and around Minneapolis has sparked an outcry among Native American groups about Indigenous people being racially profiled as undocumented immigrants by federal immigration agents. Minneapolis is one of the largest urban centers for Native Americans in the United States. The cases include four men experiencing homelessness, according to the groups, and a man accused by ICE of “violently” assaulting an officer.
“It is deeply offensive and ironic that the first people of this land would be subjected to questions around their citizenship,” Jacqueline De Leon, senior staff attorney at the nonprofit Native American Rights Fund and a member of the Isleta Pueblo. “Yet nevertheless, that is exactly what we’re seeing.”
– Eduardo Cuevas
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey renewed his call for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the city after a federal officer shot a man in the leg. He noted that the incident was the second shooting to occur in Minneapolis in a week, which has prompted public outrage and days of unrest in the city.
“This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in,” Frey said during a news conference Wednesday night. “And at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order.”
The mayor said residents have been asking a “very limited number” of local police officers to “fight ICE agents on the streets, to stand by their neighbors.”
“We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another,” Frey said, noting that the city only had about 600 officers while there were about 3,000 federal immigration agents in the area.
Frey said the presence of federal immigration agents throughout the city and across the state is “creating chaos.” Though the mayor reiterated his criticism over immigration enforcement operations, he also condemned hostile protests in the city and urged people to go home.
“I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and is intolerable. If It were your city, it would be unacceptable there, too,” he said during Wednesday’s news conference.
Local media outlets reported that hundreds of protesters gathered near the shooting scene on Wednesday night, clashing with federal officers as they deployed gas and rubber bullets. While the mayor praised peaceful protesters, he urged residents to remain calm and discouraged violent demonstrations.
“We cannot counter Donald Trump‘s chaos with our own brand of chaos,” Frey added. “And I have seen thousands of people throughout our city peacefully protesting. For those that have peacefully protested, I applaud you. For those that are taking the bait, you are not helping, and you are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city.”
Contributing: Reuters