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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: SoCal protests over Minneapolis ICE shooting
An ICE agent fatally shot a woman during a federal operation in Minneapolis, sparking sharp disagreement between federal officials and city leaders and prompting protests across Southern California.
LOS ANGELES - President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to end persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and injured by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened tensions that have radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Minneapolis ‘out of control’
What they're saying:
"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," Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday.
Top Republican leaders have signaled strong support for Trump’s potential use of the Insurrection Act to address unrest in Minneapolis.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed she has discussed the legal maneuver with the president, stating he possesses the "constitutional authority" to deploy troops.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized the situation in Minnesota as "out of control," accusing local and state officials of encouraging "madness" and expressing a frustration shared by the administration and congressional leadership.
Trump's Insurrection Act threats
Timeline:
These latest remarks follow a pattern of the Trump administration weighing the use of military force for domestic policy.
2020: The George Floyd Protests
During the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, Trump warned on June 1, 2020 that he would deploy "thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers" to stop rioting and looting.
He urged governors to "dominate the streets" and threatened that if they refused, he would invoke the Insurrection Act to "quickly solve the problem" for them.
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While active-duty troops were moved to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., federal officials ultimately persuaded him not to invoke the Act.
January – June 2025: Border Emergency and LA Protests
On his first day back in office, January 20, 2025, Trump signed a national emergency proclamation at the southern border.
The order required a joint report from the Department of Defense and Homeland Security to recommend actions for "complete operational control," specifically including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act.
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Although a follow-up report in April recommended against it, Trump again weighed the Act in June 2025 to suppress anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, though he was once again talked out of it by advisors.
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Agents in riot gear toss smoke bombs, explosions in LA
Agents in riot gear have made their way to the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles as there were exchanges of smoke bombs, tear gas and fireworks between law enforcement, protesters, and agitators with no ties to immigration advocacy.
October 2025: Bypassing the Courts
By the fall of 2025, the administration shifted its focus toward other cities like Chicago and Portland. After federal courts paused his attempts to deploy the National Guard to Oregon and Illinois, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was "allowed" to use the Insurrection Act to end legal disputes.
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"Everybody agrees you're allowed to use that and there is no more court cases, there is no more anything," he stated, framing the 1807 law as a "tool of last resort" to be used if "governors or mayors were holding us up."
January 2026: The Minneapolis Standoff
The current threat issued on Thursday marks the most direct ultimatum to date.
By labeling the protests in Minneapolis as an "insurrection" carried out by "professional agitators," Trump is establishing the legal pretext required under Section 252 of the Act—which allows him to act if he determines federal law is being "obstructively" hindered.
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What is the Insurrection Act?
What we know:
The Insurrection Act, a set of laws from 1792, allows the president to use the military at home to stop rebellions, domestic violence, or illegal plots.
While it started in 1792 to stop early tax rebellions, the law was expanded in 1807 and again after the Civil War to protect civil rights.
Under the Insurrection Act, the president holds the power to mobilize the military domestically to enforce federal law or suppress civil disorder. This authority stems from a composite of laws—beginning with the original 1792 provisions—that were eventually consolidated into the 1807 version used today.
The Act has been a major topic of discussion this month due to renewed threats of its invocation in response to protests in other major cities.
Because it lets the military do police work (normally illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act), it is meant to be used only when local courts and police have completely failed.
How does it work?
Big picture view:
Presidential authority to mobilize under the Act is divided into three categories:
- State-requested aid: This is the most common use of the law. It occurs when a state governor or legislature formally asks the president for federal help because local and state authorities are overwhelmed by an insurrection or domestic violence.
- Preservation of federal jurisdiction: The president can act without a state's request if they determine that "unlawful obstructions" or "rebellion" make it impossible to enforce federal laws through regular court proceedings.
- Enforcement of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause: This "Equal Protection" provision allows the president to intervene if domestic violence or a conspiracy is depriving citizens of their constitutional rights—and the state is unable, fails, or refuses to protect those rights.
While the first pathway requires a state’s "invite," the other two allow the president to deploy troops even if a governor explicitly says "no."
To act without state consent, the president must legally justify that federal law is being obstructed or that a specific group of citizens is being denied their constitutional rights.
When was the last time the Insurrection Act was used?
Local perspective:
Presidents have invoked the Act more than two dozen times in U.S. history, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush as unrest erupted following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers in the beating of Rodney King.
Then-Governor Pete Wilson and Mayor Tom Bradley formally requested federal assistance after determining that local law enforcement and the California National Guard were unable to contain the violence.
That's when Bush signed Executive Order 12804, invoking the Insurrection Act. This allowed the federal government to federalize the California National Guard (moving them from the governor's control to the president's), and deploy 4,000 U.S. Army soldiers and Marines to the streets of LA.
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The arrival of federal troops, combined with a strict citywide curfew, effectively ended the violence.
However, the deployment was controversial, particularly when federal agents (including Border Patrol) were allegedly seen conducting immigration sweeps.
What happens now?
What's next:
If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, federal troops or a federalized National Guard would be deployed to Minneapolis with the power to conduct arrests and searches.
This would lead to an emergency Supreme Court battle over whether the president can override a governor's authority and define local protests as a "rebellion" to bypass the legal restrictions on domestic military policing.
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If the Act is not invoked, the current standoff in Minneapolis will likely persist through "Operation Metro Surge," with over 2,000 federal agents remaining in the city under existing authorities. In this scenario, the conflict moves primarily to the courts, where Minnesota officials are already fighting to limit federal tactics, while Congressional leaders continue to pressure the state to suppress unrest or face further federal intervention.
The Source: This report is based on direct public statements from top federal officials, including a verified Truth Social post from President Trump and on-the-record comments made by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and House Speaker Mike Johnson to reporters outside the White House and on Capitol Hill. These primary accounts were verified by official Department of Homeland Security press releases regarding "Operation Metro Surge" and historical records of the Insurrection Act provided by the National Archives and the Brennan Center for Justice.