Malik Washington documents a pattern of militarization of law enforcement in Minnesota, with the use of federal military power against civilian dissent, the criminalization of free speech, and the targeting of Indigenous citizens, all in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, which would allow him to use federal troops to police civilians in an extreme emergency, but this is a rarely used power that Congress intended only for extreme emergencies and would be an unnecessary and dangerous abuse of power.
The ACLU condemned President Trump for threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military troops to Minneapolis following a deadly shooting involving a federal immigration agent, and urged Congress to intervene to limit ICE operations and hold federal agents accountable.
Trump’s threat to democracy is not that he will become a king, but that he has become a kleptocrat, exploiting national resources and stealing from the public treasury to enrich himself, his family, and his allies.