President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to justify deploying troops as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement persist in Minneapolis.
Trump made the threat to “quickly put an end to the travesty†after a federal officer shot a man in the leg while being attacked with a shovel and broom handle on Wednesday. The incident further heightened the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the ºÃÉ«tv Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
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Minnesota governor says Trump is engaged in ‘a campaign of organized brutality’
The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment on Trump’s latest threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.
During a televised speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.â€
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,†he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.â€
Trump glosses over Insurrection Act history and legal context
Threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops to Minneapolis, Trump noted that presidents have used the 19th century law many times. This is true — but they haven’t necessarily done it in the circumstances found in Minneapolis, where the tensions have arisen from Trump already sending federal authorities into the city.
In modern times, the act has been used to mobilize troops to help local authorities or to ensure a federal court order is carried out.
The law was last used in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to help quell riots in Los Angeles after local officials asked for the assistance. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson all invoked it during the Civil Rights Movement to help enforce desegregation orders in Southern states where state and local governments were resisting.
A 1964 Justice Department memo said the act can apply in three circumstances: when a state requests help, when deployment is needed to enforce a federal court order, or when “state and local law enforcement have completely broken down.â€
What to know about the latest ICE shooting in Minneapolis
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,†DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security. O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
Minneapolis mayor described the situation as not ‘sustainable’
Jacob Frey spoke Wednesday night after federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,†he said.
Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded†the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.â€
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than in the state and is vowing to not back down.
Trump threatens invoking Insurrection Act to deploy military in Minneapolis
Trump made the threat Thursday after a federal officer trying to make an arrest shot a man in the leg Wednesday after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle. The incident further heightened the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the ºÃÉ«tv Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“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 in social media post.
▶ Read more about Trump’s latest threats to Minnesota
Trump’s approval rating barely budges, AP-NORC poll finds
from January found that about . That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.
The new poll also shows subtle signs of vulnerability for Trump, mainly regarding the economy and immigration.
Senators launch a cross-party effort to end stock trading by lawmakers
Two senators from opposite parties are joining forces in a renewed push to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, an effort that has broad public support but has on Capitol Hill.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida on Thursday plan to introduce legislation, first shared with The Associated Press, that would bar lawmakers and their immediate family members from trading or owning individual stocks.
It’s the latest in a flurry of proposals in the House and the Senate to limit stock trading in Congress, lending to the issue. But the sheer number of proposals has clouded the path forward. Republican leaders in the House are pushing their own bill on stock ownership, an alternative that critics have dismissed as watered down.
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Venezuela war powers resolution fails in Senate as 2 Republicans bow to Trump pressure
Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.
Trump put intense pressure on who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.
Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.
The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.
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Louisiana governor is Trump’s envoy to Greenland
While says he’ll whether its people “ †his newly is setting off on his own approach.
, appointed as envoy in December, . The Republican has not visited the Arctic island and did not attend Wednesday’s at the White House that included Danish officials, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, the governor was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings that include the topic of Greenland, Landry’s spokesperson Kate Kelly said.
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