Republican lawmakers are urging President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after the Democrat warned that he could deploy the National Guard in response to federal immigration enforcement actions in his state.
“Invoke the Insurrection Act. Arrest Tim Walz,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., said in a post to X on Wednesday evening.
Miller’s calls to enforce the law granting the president the authority to arrest individuals obstructing federal law enforcement come in response to Walz’s suggestion that he might call in the National Guard to counter Trump’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The threat from Walz comes after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Nicole Good of Minneapolis on Wednesday after she tried blocking agents in the street and then hit one with her vehicle.
“We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough. I’ve issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard,” Walz said in a press event.
“We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads-up for folks,” Walz said. “Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight.”
Under Minnesota law, Walz has the power to deploy the National Guard for the “defense or relief of the state, the enforcement of the law, [or] the protection of persons” in the state.
Other Republicans echoed Miller’s call. When asked whether he supported Miller’s demand, Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., stated that he was unsure how else the administration might interpret Walz’s intentions.
“If he says with that intent to oppose — you’re bringing in military force. Let’s lay that out. I’m going to bring out military force to oppose a federal armed force. What does that sound like to the average person? Kind of like you want to go to war,” McCormick told Fox News.
“I don’t know how else to take that,” McCormick said. “That does not give me any indication other than you want start some stuff. And when I say ‘stuff’ I’m being very polite.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., also condemned Walz’s thinly veiled threat.
“The last time they did that was at Fort Sumter and it started the Civil War,” said Van Orden, referring to the opening clash between the Confederate and Union forces in 1861 in South Carolina.
“If a state militia acts against the federal government that is actually a civil war. So that guy needs to shut his d-mn mouth now because he is calling for civil war. [Tim] Walz is an absolute moron,” Van Orden said.
“Someone remind him: Donald Trump is the Commander in Chief. And federal authority supersedes state authority. That’s not an opinion, that’s the Constitution,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said in her own post.
“What Walz is threatening has a name: insurrection. Mr. President, the law is on your side. Use it,” she added.
Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement publicly criticized Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey after federal agents arrested an illegal immigrant sex offender in Minneapolis following a targeted enforcement operation.
ICE said the arrest involved Mahad Abdulkadir Yusuf, who authorities identified as a Somali national unlawfully present in the United States, Fox News reported.
According to ICE, Yusuf was convicted in 2016 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct after forcing a victim to perform oral sex on multiple occasions.
The agency said Yusuf had remained at large in Minneapolis for years despite his conviction and immigration status.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported that ICE agents had previously attempted to arrest Yusuf at his residence but were unable to do so after a building manager denied them access to the apartment.
