US President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to address escalating unrest in Minneapolis following federal immigration enforcement operations in the city.
The president’s warning came after a night of protests and vandalism in Minnesota, which followed an incident in which a federal agent shot a man in the leg. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that the officer fired after being attacked by three Venezuelan nationals wielding a shovel and broom handle.
Tensions in Minneapolis have been heightened since last week, when an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, sparking protests nationwide. The Insurrection Act, a law dating back to the 19th century, allows the president to deploy active-duty military personnel for law enforcement purposes within the United States. Trump has previously suggested he might use the 1807 law in other contexts but has never done so.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he would invoke the law if Minnesota officials failed to stop what he described as “professional agitators and insurrectionists.”
According to DHS, Wednesday’s shooting occurred after a car chase involving Venezuelan national Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who had a prior conviction for driving without a licence. After the pursuit, Sosa-Celis exited his vehicle and engaged in a fight with the federal agent. Two additional Venezuelan nationals who had entered the country illegally, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Gabriel Alejandro Hernandez-Ledezma, emerged from a nearby apartment. DHS said all three attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle, prompting the agent to fire, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg.
Both the agent and Sosa-Celis were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. All three Venezuelans were arrested.
“What we saw last night in Minneapolis was an attempted murder of federal law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. She added that the officer had been “ambushed and attacked” and fired a defensive shot.
Clashes erupted Wednesday night between protesters and law enforcement in Minneapolis’ Hawthorne area, near the shooting scene. City police chief Brian O’Hara reported that officers were pelted with fireworks, ice, and snowballs. Several federal government vehicles were damaged, and property was stolen from inside the vehicles, according to the FBI.
The FBI announced on Thursday that it is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the recovery of stolen government property and the arrest of those responsible for its destruction and theft.
Around 3,000 federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota in recent weeks.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has called for ICE to leave the city, posted on X on Wednesday: “No matter what led up to this incident, the situation we are seeing in our city is not sustainable.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, made a direct appeal to President Trump on Thursday via X: “Let’s turn the temperature down.” Walz, who previously described ICE as a “modern-day Gestapo,” told Minnesotans: “We cannot fan the flames of chaos.” The governor, who ran for US vice president alongside Kamala Harris in 2024, had announced earlier this month that he would not seek re-election, following a fraud scandal involving the state’s welfare programmes.
Trump has said that Operation Metro Surge, the federal enforcement operation, will continue in Minnesota after a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order requested by state prosecutors against ICE on Wednesday. Tensions surrounding immigration enforcement have been ongoing since the 7 January fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent.
The Trump administration maintains that the ICE agent acted in self-defence, while local authorities argue that Good posed no threat. Video footage shows ICE agents approaching a car stopped in the middle of the street. As Good appears to attempt to drive away, an agent standing near the vehicle’s front points his gun and fires three shots. The FBI is investigating the incident.
Online fundraising efforts have reflected the controversy: a fundraiser for Good’s widow and family has raised more than $1.4m, while another fundraiser for Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent involved in the fatal encounter, has raised $740,000.
