President Trump threatened to impose martial law on Minnesota just hours after ICE agents shot a man during an enforcement operation.
“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 declared on Truth Social on Thursday morning.
His threat comes after a man was shot in north Minneapolis on Wednesday evening by a federal agent, sparking lively protests that saw ICE henchmen pepper-spray protesters. The city is still on edge a week after the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was shot dead by agent Jonathan Ross.
The incident on Wednesday came as officers “were conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis of an illegal alien from Venezuela,” the Department of Homeland Security said on X.
The agency accused the man of resisting and attacking officers, and said two other individuals “came out of a nearby apartment and also attacked” the arresting officer, who “fired a defensive shot to defend his life.” Minneapolis authorities said federal agents had “made entry” into the home the man had entered.
He was “transferred to a local hospital with apparent non-life-threatening injuries,” the city said in a statement.
Leaders in the state have spoken out against the presence of ICE in their cities and demanded an end to what they described as an “occupation.”
Tim Walz, the governor and a frequent target of the president’s attacks, issued a call to action to Minnesotans in an address earlier on Wednesday. He urged citizens to record the “atrocities” committed by ICE agents, to bank evidence for future prosecution."
“Armed, masked, undertrained ICE agents are going door-to-door, ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live,” he said. “It’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Walz called on Minnesotans to “carry your phone with you at all times” to “help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities.” He also told residents: “Accountability is coming, in the voting booth and in court.”
The Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, put the blame for the chaos in his city on Wednesday squarely at the feet of Trump.
“I’ve seen conduct from ICE that is disgusting and intolerable,” he said, urging protesters to go home. “We cannot counter Donald Trump’s chaos with more chaos … Anyone who is taking the bait tonight, stop,” he said. “You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city.”
