What is the Insurrection Act?

This is not the first time Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law.

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to invoke a historic act to deploy military troops to Minneapolis in an effort to manage the ongoing protests between civilians and federal immigration officers.

Tensions in the city have escalated following the death of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7

Then on Wednesday, just over a week since Good’s death, an ICE agent reportedly shot another Minneapolis resident who allegedly attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed he was struck in the leg, and his injuries were not considered life-threatening. Two others were also taken into custody.

Crowds of people took to the streets overnight, where agents wearing gas masks and helmets reportedly fired tear gas. According to the Associated Press, protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting off fireworks.

Hours after the incident, the president shared a statement on social media, in which he threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.

“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 said in the post on Truth Social.

This is not the first time Trump has threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the president to deploy troops in the United States during invasions, rebellions, or when local authorities are unable to maintain order during domestic instances of violence.

The act was signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson during a time of civil unrest in the U.S.

The original text, which was approved on March 3, 1807, reads as follows:

“An Act authorizing the employment of the land and naval forces of the United States, in cases of insurrections.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws, either of the United States, or of any individual state or territory, where it is lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ, for the same purposes, such part of the land or naval force of the United States, as shall be judged necessary, having first observed all the pre-requisites of the law in that respect.”

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids the U.S. military to act as civilian law enforcement, as it can endanger freedoms, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. However, invoking the Insurrection Act will temporarily suspend this law.

The act has been amended several times since it was signed into law to expand the circumstances for when it can be invoked and has been used mostly to suppress riots often tied to civil rights movements, according to Britannica.

When has the Insurrection Act been invoked in U.S. history?

According to Harvard research, 15 presidents have invoked the Insurrection Act. Former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy used the Insurrection Act when state governors ignored Supreme Court rulings on desegregation, so federal forces were deployed to enforce desegregation laws.

Former President Andrew Jackson used the law to put a stop to a slave rebellion and a laborer revolt, according to the Zinn Education Project. The Insurrection Act was the legal basis for the Civil War, as President Abraham Lincoln gained powers to send federal troops into southern states.

Most recently, in 1992, California Governor Pete Wilson requested the president to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell protests after police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King were acquitted.

Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act during his first term, when protests nationwide broke out in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd. Trump has also threatened to invoke the act several times in 2025 during his second term, after he was faced with legal challenges over the deployment of National Guard troops in several U.S. cities.