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The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to remain on alert for a possible deployment in Minnesota.
According to a report this Sunday by the Washington Post, two battalions of the 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska, are under orders to prepare for possible deployment in Minnesota, although it is unclear what their role would be in that state.
Military personnel could take on crowd control duties or support law enforcement during protests, two Defense officials told CNN.
For his part, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said this Sunday that the idea of sending active-duty soldiers to Minnesota to assist in immigration enforcement is a ridiculous and unconstitutional notion
Frey urged the protesters to maintain peace so that the president does not feel the need to send in the U.S. military.
Protests against the actions of ICE agents in Minnesota have intensified following the death of Renee Good.
Law of Insurrection
On Thursday, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 and deploy federal troops in Minneapolis to contain the protests sparked by recent shootings involving agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The president's warning comes a day after an immigration officer shot and wounded a man who had attacked him with a shovel and a broomstick, in a new incident that heightened tensions in the city, still reeling from the death of Renee Good, a local resident who was shot in the head by an ICE agent on January 7.
“Unless the corrupt politicians of Minnesota adhere to the law and put a stop to the agitators and insurgents attacking ICE patriots, I will invoke the Insurrection Act, as many presidents before me have done, and I will quickly put an end to this disgrace,” wrote Trump in a social media post.
The Insurrection Act is a federal law that allows the president to use the Armed Forces or federalize the National Guard to restore internal order.
Its most recent use occurred in 1992, when then-President George H. W. Bush invoked it during the Los Angeles riots at the request of local authorities.
According to AP, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that he will challenge any attempt by the federal government to send troops to the city and reminded that he has already sued the Department of Homeland Security over the increase in raids and interventions.
"We will resort to the courts if they try to impose military measures," he declared.
Democratic Governor Tim Walz also responded directly to Trump's message. "I call on the president to lower the temperature. This campaign of retaliation is not who we are as a nation."
In the streets of Minneapolis, protests continue daily. On Wednesday night, demonstrators and federal agents clashed near the site of the latest shooting.
The officers, equipped with gas masks and helmets, fired tear gas as the protesters responded with stones and fireworks.
The city's mayor, Jacob Frey, described the situation as "impossible" and criticized the scope of the federal operation.
"We are facing a force five times larger than our local police. The neighbors are frightened and enraged," he said.
The Department of Homeland Security reported that the latest shooting occurred when agents attempted to apprehend a Venezuelan driver who was in the country illegally.
After fleeing and crashing his vehicle, the man was pursued by officers and was shot in the leg when, according to authorities, three individuals attacked him simultaneously.
The ICE agent Jonathan Ross, responsible for the death of Renee Good, remains under investigation and is recovering from internal injuries sustained during that confrontation, a Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to AP.
Good was killed after three agents surrounded her vehicle during an operation in a residential neighborhood. A video recorded by a passerby shows how Ross aims and fires at close range while the car begins to move.
The case has sparked a wave of outrage and protests in Minneapolis, which have spread throughout the country.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, defended the agent's actions, claiming he acted in self-defense after being struck by the vehicle, a version rejected by the authorities in Minnesota.
Renee Good's family hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd's family in 2020 and has announced a lawsuit against the federal government for excessive use of force.
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