President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he could invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and allow the U.S. military to be used for law enforcement purposes amid tension in Minnesota.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the Insurrection Act," Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
The post comes one day after a federal officer shot a person in the leg after allegedly being attacked with a shovel. The shooting was about five miles from the location where an immigration agent shot Renee Good in the head on Jan. 7 as she attempted to drive away.
The presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, coupled with the fatal shooting of Good, has led to demonstrations in the Twin Cities region.
RELATED STORY | Federal officer shoots person in leg after attack during Minneapolis arrest
The last time the Insurrection Act of 1807 was invoked was in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush ordered the National Guard, at the request of the state, to head to Los Angeles in response to riots following the trial of four acquitted police officers involved in the Rodney King beating. By the time the National Guard arrived, the riots had mostly died down, according to the Brennan Center.
Trump has mulled using the Insurrection Act in the past, including last June in the Los Angeles region.
Generally, the military, including the National Guard, is prohibited from engaging in law enforcement activities. However, Trump has used them in the past to support law enforcement activities.
