Adedokun Waliyu 
US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an emergency law that allows the domestic deployment of the military following protests in Minnesota sparked by deadly encounters involving federal agents.
The unrest began after federal agents killed one person and injured another during operations in the Midwestern state, a Democratic stronghold. Protesters have condemned what they describe as aggressive tactics used in Trump’s wide-ranging immigration raids.
In two separate incidents, federal agents opened fire, wounding a Venezuelan man on Wednesday and killing an American woman last week.
The Insurrection Act permits a US president to bypass the Posse Comitatus Act in order to suppress what is deemed “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence,” and to deploy the armed forces “as he considers necessary.”
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused federal agents of carrying out “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota” in a video shared on social media. He cited incidents including broken windows, pregnant women being dragged along the street, and the January 7 killing of 37-year-old Renee Good.
“We must protest loudly, urgently, but also peacefully,” Walz said, calling on Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “end this occupation.” He also urged residents to record any encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for possible future prosecution.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Noem said the decision to invoke the Insurrection Act rests solely with the president.
Protests against ICE in Minneapolis have continued late into the night in recent days, with demonstrators clashing with federal agents who have used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a shooting late Wednesday occurred during a struggle between an ICE agent and a suspect.
“During the struggle, the federal agent discharged his weapon, striking one adult male,” O’Hara told reporters.
The Department of Homeland Security said that during the incident, two individuals emerged from a nearby residence and attacked the agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle. The wounded man, identified as an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to hospital, while the two others were arrested.
The Insurrection Act was last used in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush at the request of California’s governor amid widespread riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.
Senior White House official Stephen Miller accused Minnesota officials of deliberately inciting a “violent insurrection,” while White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt criticised the media, saying it was “absolutely complicit in this violence.”
Concerns over ICE operations extend beyond street confrontations. Mexican authorities said they were seeking information about the death of one of their citizens at an ICE detention facility in Georgia this week.
According to ICE data, the agency recorded 30 deaths in detention in 2025, the highest figure on record, alongside a rise in the number of people detained.
