“I Will Institute the Insurrection Act”: Trump Issues Ultimatum to Minnesota Leaders as Minneapolis Burns

The confrontation between the White House and the State of Minnesota has reached its most dangerous inflection point yet. On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump explicitly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, a move that would allow him to deploy active-duty U.S. troops to American streets over the objections of Governor Tim Walz.

The ultimatum came just hours after a chaotic night in North Minneapolis, where federal agents clashed with protestors and a second officer-involved shooting left the city on a razor’s edge.

“The Corrupt Politicians of Minnesota”

Taking to Truth Social, the President framed the unrest not as a local law enforcement issue, but as a failure of governance that requires federal intervention.

“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.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking from the White House, reinforced the threat. While stopping short of confirming a deployment timeline, she asserted the President “certainly has the constitutional authority” to act if local leaders fail to “get criminals off the streets.”

The “Shovel Attack” and the Shooting

The President’s threat was triggered by a violent incident on Wednesday night that shattered the fragile peace in North Minneapolis.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), federal agents attempted to arrest a Venezuelan national who fled in a vehicle before crashing into a parked car. Agents pursued the suspect on foot to a nearby residence, where the situation devolved into a brawl. DHS alleges that three individuals ambushed an officer, attacking him with a snow shovel and a broom handle.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed... the officer fired a defensive shot,” DHS said in a statement. The suspect was struck in the leg and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The shooting acted as a spark in a city already saturated with gasoline. Within an hour, hundreds of protestors converged on the scene. The night descended into a familiar rhythm of urban conflict: officers in gas masks firing tear gas and flash-bangs, while protestors retaliated with rocks, fireworks, and chunks of ice.

An “Impossible Situation”

For state and local leaders, the federal presence has become a nightmare scenario. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has been in a public war of words with the administration since the death of activist Renee Nicole Good on January 7, described the dynamic as “unsustainable.”

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in,” Frey said, noting that his 600 police officers are often finding themselves physically and politically wedged between 3,000 federal agents and their own constituents.

Governor Tim Walz, in a direct appeal to the White House, attempted to de-escalate the rhetoric even as he accused the administration of provoking the violence.

“Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Walz wrote. “This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

The Ghost of 1807

If Trump follows through on his threat, it would be a historic escalation of executive power. The Insurrection Act allows the President to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act – which normally forbids using the military for domestic law enforcement—to suppress rebellion or enforce federal laws.

It was last invoked in 1992 during the L.A. Riots, but always at the request of a state governor. Invoking it against the will of a governor would take the country into uncharted constitutional waters, effectively placing Minneapolis under federal martial law.

With “Operation Metro Surge” showing no signs of slowing down and the local population nearing a breaking point, the question is no longer if the federal government will intervene, but whether the troops arriving next will be wearing ICE badges or Army fatigues.