Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations may occur. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 troops to prepare for deployment to Minnesota, where there are large protests against the government’s deportation campaign, American media reported on Sunday.
The military has put units on alert to prepare for deployment in case violence escalates in the northern region, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed defense officials, adding that it was unclear whether any would be deployed.
The White House told the Post in a statement that it is common practice that the Pentagon is “prepared for any decision the President may make or may make.” The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.
President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to use the Sedition Act to send in the military if state officials don’t stop protesters from targeting immigration officials after an increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
‘They’re just trying to do their job’
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota disobey the law and stop professional insurgents and insurgents from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute an INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social forum.
The deployed soldiers specialize in cold weather operations and are assigned to two combat units of the US Army under the 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska, the Post and ABC News reported.
Clashes between citizens and government officials have escalated in Minneapolis, a populous city in Minnesota, after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen mother of three, on January 7 while driving after being ordered to get out of her car.
Protests erupted over the killing of Renee Good, 37, who was shot by an ice agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Trump, a Republican, has sent nearly 3,000 federal agents from ICE and the Border Patrol to Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul since the beginning of last week, as part of a wave of interventions, especially in cities controlled by Democratic Alliance politicians.
He said the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Memphis and Portland, Oregon, is necessary to fight crime and protect government property and personnel from protesters. But this month he said he was withdrawing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, which has faced legal challenges and challenges.
Federal overreach
Local leaders have accused the president of exaggerating the regime and exaggerating episodes of violence to justify sending in troops.
The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, the Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation against him, has mobilized the National Guard of the country to support law enforcement and emergency agencies, the Department of Public Security wrote on Saturday.
Trump has also invoked a scandal over the theft of state funds meant for welfare programs in Minnesota as a reason to send in immigration agents. The president and administration officials have been appointing the state’s Somali immigrant community.
The Sedition Act is a federal law that gives the president the power to use the military or mobilize the National Guard within the US to suppress rebellion.
The law can be used if there is “unlawful obstruction, combination or combination or treason” against federal authorities. If the president sees that those conditions are met, he can use the armed forces to take steps to “reinforce those laws or suppress rebellion.”
