Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act over protests in Minneapolis

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Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act over protests in Minneapolis – US politics live

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem says she spoke to Trump about invoking Insurrection Act, saying ‘that certainly is within the president’s constitutional authority’

Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act in Minnesota

Federal agents in Minneapolis after a man was shot by federal agents on January 14. Photograph: Jim Vondruska/NurPhoto/Shutterstock


Shrai Popat (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier)

Fri 16 Jan 2026 04.20 AEDT



01.08 AEDT

Trump threatens to invoke insurrection act as protests continue in Minneapolis

Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act as protests against federal immigration agents continue in Minneapolis.

In a post on Truth Social today, Trump said he would institute the centuries-old, seldom used law – that allows the president to use the military domestically to suppress an invasion or rebellion – 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”.

On Wednesday, a federal officer shot a man in the leg during an enforcement operation in north Minneapolis, sparking further protests in the city, just a week after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

Trump said that by implementing the act he would “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State”.Share


1m ago 04.20 AEDT

Walz calls on Trump to 'turn the temperature down' in Minnesota, urges demonstrators to 'not fan the flames of chaos'

Minnesota governor Tim Walz called on Donald Trump to “turn the temperature down” as protests escalate in Minneapolis after the shooting of an immigrant by an ICE agent on Wednesday.

In a statement he asked the president to “stop this campaign of retribution” and thousands of federal immigration agents remain in the city after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

Walz also urged demonstrating Minnesotans to “speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully,”. Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said that those gathering at the scene of the shooting on Wednesday were “engaging in unlawful behavior”.

“We cannot fan the flames of chaos,” Walz added. “That’s what he [Trump] wants.”