To understand the current situation in Minneapolis, you must first turn back to 2020 after the killing of George Floyd, when nationwide protests erupted with the epicenter in Minneapolis, where police killed Floyd.
Trump was president. He wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring in the military but was convinced by his advisors not to do so. It was the right move. The lack of a heavy-handed response by law enforcement contrasted with some protesters who engaged in violent acts toward federal buildings and other property. There were those on the left who called to abolish the police. Black Lives Matter initially had much support, since what happened to George Floyd had happened before. As time went on, support for the protesters, those who wanted to abolish the police, and Black Lives Matter changed. By 2022 and more so in 2024, the idea of abolishing the police became a political albatross, and the Black Lives Matter organization did not matter so much.
Another important event was the riot on January 6, 2021, and then Trump’s blanket pardon of the criminals involved, including those who injured and attacked police officers.
To this day, Trump has regretted not invoking the Insurrection Act and bringing in the military. The scandal involving Somalis in Minneapolis—the same location as Floyd’s killing—gave Trump a second chance to do what he wanted to do years ago. The Department of Homeland Security first decided to send a large force of ICE agents to Minneapolis. They wanted and expected a reaction from the local population. Then they could up the ante by bringing in more agents and the military.
It has not worked out as well as the administration wanted. The first person widely reported to have been killed was not in law enforcement or someone with a criminal record or an undocumented immigrant. It was a 37-year-old white woman, a mother of three children (ages 15, 12, 6) with no criminal record and an American citizen. Even her name was not one the administration would want: Renee Good. Her last words, uttered to one of the ICE agents before another killed her, were “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” It was reported that ICE did not allow a doctor who was at the scene to try to give medical attention to Ms. Good.
In the old days, before video, it was the police officer’s word versus maybe some civilians. It became a “he said, she said.” Now there are videos of the incident. Therefore, it becomes harder for the government to spin what happens. We can see for ourselves what happened. I am amazed that so many people have bought the administration’s representation of what happened without looking at any of the videos.
The administration, in contrast to what they did in 2020, has inflamed the situation. The Trump administration demonized Ms. Good while her body was still warm and cleared the ICE agent of wrongdoing. Then the DOJ (Department of Justice) decided that they would only investigate the conduct of the other woman with Renee Good and not the ICE officer who fired the three shots. As a result, six members of the US Attorney’s office in the civil rights division covering Minneapolis—including the Assistant US Attorney who was heading the prosecution of fraud—resigned in protest.
Not to be deterred, DOJ stated that they opened a criminal investigation of the governor and the mayor of Minneapolis as to whether they are impeding the ICE agents. This investigation occurred only a few days after the US attorney in Washington DC subpoenaed Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, with the excuse of looking into cost overruns. However, it was clear that it was retribution because Powell did not want to lower interest rates, which Trump wanted. Moreover, the investigation of the governor and mayor is also problematic because of Trump’s conduct leading up to January 6, and during January 6. The governor and the mayor’s statements pale in comparison to Trump’s as it relates to potential criminal conduct.
Then the administration decided to increase the number of ICE and Border Security officers to 3,000, while the entire city police force is 500 to 600 officers.
The administration has been justifying the use of force by ICE, even deadly force, when citizens do not abide by orders of law enforcement. If you want to see the hypocrisy of that position seen in real time, you need to see Kristi Noem’s interview on January 11, 2025, with Jake Tapper, who played for her some of the videos of the police being assaulted on January 6 and asked if she thought that the police would have been justified in using deadly force against the protesters. She looked like a deer in headlights and gave a word salad response. The bottom line is that there is no legitimate response. It is impossible on one hand to defend the conduct on January 6 of the pardoned criminals and then attack those who protest the ICE invasion and justify lethal force against them.
Besides video tape which has shown other examples of excessive force by ICE, there is now a Federal Court order which granted an injunction prohibiting ICE from various conduct. The Court discussed in detail the plaintiffs’ interactions with ICE and concluded that most likely ICE’s conduct violated the law and/or rights of the plaintiffs. ICE was ordered among other things not to arrest, detain, retaliate against, use pepper spray or similar non-lethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity, including observing the activities of Operation Metro Surge (name of the ICE and Border Control incursion). The court also set guidelines in dealing with individuals in vehicles. Even Joe Rogan is referring to ICE’s conduct as Gestapo tactics.
All of this makes it harder for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and call in the military. The closest we have had during a Trump administration of an insurrection was on January 6. Trump did not call out the military. For hours he let it continue and made statements which seemed to appear to justify the rioters’ conduct. Therefore, his conduct on January 6 makes it harder to claim that what is going on in Minnesota requires the declaration of the Insurrection Act.
Trump, for the meantime, has decided to hold back on the declaration. He may be biding his time waiting for an incident where a member of law enforcement is severely injured or killed to use it as an excuse to send in the military. Hopefully, there will not be some protesters who mess things up by going too far and give Trump the excuse he needs to invoke the Insurrection Act.
