United States President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke a rarely used federal law to deploy troops to the state of Minnesota, where protests are being held against two shootings in the city of Minneapolis within a week related to his immigration crackdown.
“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 social media on Thursday, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Trump posted the comment a day after a federal agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis. The federal agent said two people attacked him with a shovel and broom handle as he wrestled with the Venezuelan, who the Trump administration said was in the US illegally.
Deadly shooting
The incident further stoked tensions a week after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a US citizen, in her car in Minneapolis. The killing of the mother of three and the Trump administration’s depiction of her as a “domestic terrorist” sparked global outrage, leading to demonstrations across the US.
Smoke filled the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks.
The US president has repeatedly threatened to use the Insurrection Act to deploy the US military or federalise the National Guard for domestic law enforcement over the objections of state governors.
