Stop attacking ICE: Trump warns Minnesota officials there’s a federal Insurrection Act

President Donald Trump is warning officials in Minnesota, whose state is beset by race rioting amid a federal immigration law crackdown, that there is such a thing as a federal Insurrection Act.

“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 wrote on social media.

The law allows a president to send the military or federalized National Guard troops into the state.

According to a report in the Washington Examiner, “The president’s statement about possibly invoking the rarely used Insurrection Act of 1807 ‘to stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.’ comes after protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers intensified over the past few hours. Tensions have heightened in Minneapolis, as state lawmakers continue to criticize federal operations in the state.”

The law previously has been used by presidents to quell labor disputes and rebellions in America’s early days. It was signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson.

Rioting has been seen in Minneapolis since an officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement fatally shot Renee Good, a woman accused of driving her vehicle, as a weapon, at federal officers, injuring one.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law & stop the professional agitators & 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…” – President Trump pic.twitter.com/d7XJMA7qUU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2026

A second later shooting triggered another round of actions. In that case, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed a second officer shot an illegal immigrant in the leg after being attacked by a gang wielding snow shovels and broomsticks.

The ICE crackdowns are a followup to Trump’s decision to close the American border, following four years of Joe Biden’s administration in which millions of illegal aliens, including criminals and terrorists, were allowed in.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is the one who called the violence in Minnesota an “insurrection,” and he accused Democrat Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “encouraging violence.”

The accusations from Walz and Frey have included that ICE agents are “kidnapping innocent people.”

Frey has told the federal law enforcement officers to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”