The Threat of the Insurrection Act in Minnesota

President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to send federal military forces to Minneapolis in response to protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the city. We'll explain what the law says about the president's authority to do so.

Trump cited the act in a Jan. 15 social media post, eight days after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good during a protest confrontation. The shooting sparked more protests in Minneapolis and the Trump administration's deployment of hundreds more immigration officers to join 2,000 Department of Homeland Security agents sent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as of early this month, according to DHS. The department has called it "Operation Metro Surge."