US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces in Minnesota after several days of angry protests over the increasing number of immigration agents on the streets of Minneapolis, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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The publication notes that the confrontation between residents and federal officials is becoming increasingly tense after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot US citizen Renee Good in a car in Minneapolis eight days ago, and protests have spread to other cities. Trump's latest threat came hours after an immigration officer shot a Venezuelan man who, the government said, fled after agents tried to stop his car in Minneapolis.
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"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota do not abide by the law and stop professional agitators and insurgents from attacking the patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will invoke the INSURRECTION ACT," Trump wrote on social media.
Trump, a Republican, has for weeks ridiculed the state's Democratic leaders and called the Somali community in the area "garbage" that should be "thrown out" of the country.
He has already sent nearly 3,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis area, who carried weapons through the city's icy streets, dressed in military camouflage and masks covering their faces. They were often met with loud, often angry protests from residents, some blowing whistles or banging tambourines.
Agents arrested both immigrants and protesters, at times smashing windows and pulling people from cars, and were shouted at in several episodes where they stopped Black and Hispanic US citizens and demanded identification.
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