The warning was stark, unmistakable, and delivered with a sense of urgency rarely heard in Washington: the situation in Minneapolis was no longer just tense — it was unraveling. Former Border Czar Tom Homan has publicly declared that he is preparing to put the Insurrection Act directly before President Donald Trump, a legal lever that could authorize military deployment on U.S. soil, as federal agents are increasingly under fire on the streets of Minneapolis.
Night after night, what began as protests has degenerated into a volatile, chaotic tinderbox. Federal officers have been targeted in confrontations that escalated to an ICE shooting and other violent encounters — including another person shot and wounded in clashes with officers — each evening seemingly worse than the last.
Officials at the local and national levels now openly acknowledge what many observers have been warning: these are no longer peaceful demonstrations. They describe a city on edge, where armed agitators mix with frustrated residents, and clashes with heavily armed federal agents have become grimly routine.
Homan’s remarks represent a dramatic intensification in how the federal government might respond to the unrest gripping Minneapolis. By branding the Insurrection Act as a “viable option” — and warning of “more bloodshed” if order isn’t restored — he is signaling that federal patience is wearing thin as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and other agents repeatedly find themselves in harm’s way.
The catalyst for this crisis was the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen killed by an ICE agent during a federal enforcement operation, an incident that has drawn national outrage and provoked sustained protests not only in Minneapolis but in cities across the country. What officials have characterized as a defensive action — including assertions by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that Good’s vehicle was used as a “weapon” — has not quelled tensions. Those claims are deeply disputed by local leaders and civil liberties advocates who say video and witness accounts paint a different picture of what happened.
Since that shooting, Minneapolis has been transformed into a flashpoint of resistance and conflict. Thousands of federal agents — part of the largest DHS operation in history — have been dispatched to the region, overwhelming local law enforcement and heightening fears among residents who feel besieged rather than protected.
Supporters of the federal presence argue that ICE personnel are under siege from increasingly aggressive crowds and that drastic measures may be needed to protect federal officers and uphold the rule of law. Critics, by contrast, warn that the administration is poised to wield military power against its own citizens, escalating a confrontation that has already cost lives and threatened civil liberties.
Caught between these two competing visions is a city simmering with anger and anxiety, waiting to see whether President Trump will cross a Rubicon that few commanders-in-chief have dared approach — invoking a near-century-old statute to deploy military force on American streets.
