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Several Republican lawmakers are looking to talk President Donald Trump out of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis as the city sees demonstrations over the fatal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
The Insurrection Act, which was passed in 1807, was last invoked in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of LAPD officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.
If invoked, the Insurrection Act would allow Trump to deploy active-duty troops or federalized National Guard members to restore order. It would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
TRUMP THREATENS TO INVOKE INSURRECTION ACT IN MINNESOTA IF AGITATORS KEEP ATTACKING FEDERAL OFFICERS
There are some Republican lawmakers who are resistant to the idea of the president invoking the centuries-old law in the wake of the fatal shooting of Good. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to downplay Trump’s threat, placing his hope in local law enforcement’s ability to “settle things down.”
“Hopefully the local officials working with not only the federal law enforcement, ICE and other agencies, but also the local law enforcement officials will be able to settle things down,” Thune told reporters.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., cast doubt on whether it would be appropriate to invoke the act, according to The Hill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., also expressed her concerns about the move, saying that the administration needs to be “very careful,” The Hill reported.
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“I have felt that since the fatal shooting [of Good] a week or so ago that we needed to be very, very careful, very cautious in how we proceed, not only in Minnesota but in other areas, to keep the conflict, the potential for conflict as it relates to ICE enforcement dialed back,” Murkowski said, according to The Hill.
The senator from Alaska said the situation in Minneapolis was reminiscent of what happened “during the time of George Floyd,” referencing the wave of protests and rioting that followed Floyd’s 2020 death in the same city. The protests over Floyd’s death erupted in the final year of Trump’s first term during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Black Lives Matter and anti-police crowds filled the streets of cities across the U.S.
“Everything was just so tenuous and so volatile. We don’t need that,” Murkowski added, according to The Hill.
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Trump issued the threat on Thursday, saying that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if the people of Minnesota continued to defy the law and attack federal agents.
“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 wrote on Truth Social.
Following Trump’s post, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for calm and issued an appeal to the people of his state.
“Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” the Democrat said. “And an appeal to Minnesotans: I know this is scary. We can — we must — speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants.”
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In response to Walz, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “Tim Walz, Jacob Frey, and Democrat leaders in Minnesota have done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them — all in defense of criminal illegal aliens.”
“In Minnesota, ICE has arrested rapists, drug traffickers, domestic abusers, and more, despite Democrat opposition. The Trump Administration will protect the American people and enforce the law without apology. The only statement Tim Walz should be making is an apology. He has repeatedly compared ICE officers to Nazis and lied about their important work, including in his speech just last night,” Jackson also said.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
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