Trump Threatens to Invoke the Insurrection Act Over Minneapolis Protests

On January 15, 2026, President Trump threatened on Truth Social to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 in response to protests in Minneapolis, writing that if "the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators" he would "quickly put an end to the travesty." The protests followed the January 7 fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE officer and a second federal shooting on January 14, with demonstrators confronting federal agents who deployed tear gas.

The Insurrection Act is the principal statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act's bar on domestic military law enforcement. It has been invoked more than 20 times, most recently in 1992 during the Los Angeles unrest — on that occasion at the request of state authorities. Here the state's elected leadership opposed federal intervention, which would place any invocation in the narrower and more contested category of deployment over a governor's objection.

Governor Tim Walz urged Trump to "turn the temperature down" and "stop this campaign of retribution." Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any invocation in court. No invocation followed in January.