Overview
- President Donald Trump warned he may invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota officials do not curb what he called attacks on ICE, labeling demonstrators “professional agitators” and “insurrectionists.”
- DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she discussed the option with the president and asserted he has the constitutional authority to use it.
- Several thousand federal immigration agents have been deployed in the Twin Cities, surpassing the size of Minneapolis’s police force, as confrontations with protesters continue.
- Unrest intensified after two ICE shootings this month, including the fatal Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Good and a Jan. 14 incident in which a Venezuelan man was shot in the leg.
- Minnesota leaders have urged peaceful protest and sued to limit federal tactics, but no injunction has been granted, while recent polling shows broad disapproval of the shooting and skepticism toward sending in troops.